
QassJ- ^ 

Book -<T S'o 



HISTORY OF JONAH, 

CHILDREN AND YOUTH ; 



DESIGNED ALSO AS AN AID 



TO FAMILIAR BIBLICAL EXPOSITION IN FAMILIES, 
r" SUNDAY SCHOOLS AND BIBLE CLASSES. 



BY REV. T. H. GALLAUDET, 

Late Principal of the American Asylum for the Deaf and Dumb. 



Ai 



BOSTON: 



PUBLIBHED BY CROCKER & BREWSTER, 

47 Washington Street. 

NEW YORK: JONATHAN LEAVITT, 

182 Broadway. 

1833. 






:^^ T^^^ r 






Entered according to the act of Congress, in the year one thousand 
eight hundred and thirty-three, hy Crocker & Brewster, in the 
Clerk's Office of the District Court of Massachusetts. 



/^■//. 



BOSTON: 

Printed by James B. Dow, 

122 Washington St. 



PREFACE. 



It is the design of the author, in this book, to 
make the history of Jonah the ground-work of a 
series of illustrations and practical remarks, 
growing out of the incidents which it records. 
In doing this, the explanation of not a few diffi- 
cult topics in the religious instruction of children 
and youth, is attempted, by ih^t slow and patient 
analysis so necessary in communicating truth to 
their minds. Among these topics are,^ — the om- 
niscience of God, — prophecy, — sacrifices, — objec- 
tions to the Bible, — miracles, — limits of human 
reason, — God's repenting, and being angry, and 
others of a similar nature. 

In addition to this, the author has endeavored 
to render the difficult parts of this portion of 
scripture intelligible to the youthful mind, and, 
throughout the whole, to interweave with the 
narrative such ^practical views of duty as will 



4 PREFACE. 

tend, under the blessing of God, to promote ear- 
ly and active piety in the youthful heart. 

He has aimed to call into exercise the reflect^ 
ing and reasoning powers of the young reader, in 
a style of as great plainness and simplicity as 
the nature of the subject would permit. 

Are not some such books needed in the depart- 
ment of religious education? — Entertainment is 
important, and even fiction, to some extent, al- 
lowable, in order to interest youth, and induce 
habits of attention in reading. But books of this 
description already abound. Whether one of a 
more serious cast, having, indeed, much that is 
interesting in its narrative, but demanding, also, 
a good share of sober and close thinking, will be 
appreciated by the religious public, — it is for 
that public to decide. 

In conclusion, the author begs leave to sug- 
gest, whether, in such Sunday Schools, as would 
admit of the arrangement, the chapters might 
not be read in succession, as lectures on this 
portion of the sacred scriptures, so aptly styled 
by the excellent commentator, Henry, milk for 
babes. 



THE 



HISTORY OF JONAH. 



CHAPTER I. 

Omniscience of God. Meaning of the word prO' 
phet. Schools of the prophets among the Jews. 

Almost every child has heard about Jonah, 
and the great fish that swallowed him up; — 
which we read of in the Bible. 

I am going to write the history of Jonah, and 
I shall try to do it in such a way, that my young 
readers may understand it, and learn something 
good from it. 

All the histories in the Bible were written to 
teach us good things; and to show us how we 
must love and obey God, that we may go to 
heaven when we die ; and be happy there for- 
ever. 

It was God who told good men, how to write 
1 



10 HISTORY OF JONAH. 

the Bible. We should remember this, when we 
hear, or read, the histories in the Bible. We 
should be very attentive to what God teaches us. 
We should think about it often, and not forget 
it. We should pray to God, to help us to under- 
stand it, and to get good from it, that we may 
love and obey Him more than we ever yet have 
done. 

Will you try to feel, and to do so, my dear 
ehildren, while I tell you the history of Jonah? 

But before I begin, I must explain the mean- 
ing of one word to you, which perhaps, you do 
not exactly understand ; and you will soon see 
the reason of my doing this. This word is the 
word, prophet. 

You have been taught, that God knows every- 
thing. We know many things that have hap- 
pened ] but God knows all things that have ever 
happened, among all the men who have lived, 
and in all parts of the world. He knows every- 
thing that every man, woman and child, has 
thought, felt, said and done. He knows all 
things that now are happening, and all things 
that all the people in the world, are now think- 
ing, feeling, saying and doing. God, also knows 
all things that ivill ever happen, and all things 
that all the people who live now, or who are to 
live thousands of years to come, will think, feel, 
say, and do. 



HISTORY OF JONAH. II 

We do not know this. We think, indeed, 
that some things will happen again, because 
they have so ofien happened before. We ex- 
pect that the sun will rise tomorrow, just as it 
has done for years and years that are past. 
We expect that after the ^^ummer and autumn 
are gone, the winter will come again, because it 
has been so for a long, long time. But about a 
great many things, we cannot tell, or even guess, 
how, or when, they will happen ; or whether 
they will happen at all. 

But God never has to expect, or guess, what 
will happen. He knows, certainly and exactly, 
everything that is to happen, to-morrow; or the 
day after, or the next week ; or the next month, 
or year; or thousands and millions of years to 
come. He knows just as well what is t/et to 
happen, as what has already happened. 

All this, that I have told you about the know- 
ledge of God, can be put into one word, — 
Omniscience. Instead of saying, God knows all 
things that have been, that now are, or that will 
ever be, it means exactly the same thing, to say, 
that God is omniscient. 

If God is omniscient, and knows everything 
that is to happen, long before it happens ; — then 
He can tell any person, if He chooses to do so. 
what will happen, at any future time. He can 



12 HISTORY OF JONAH. 

cause such a person to hear a voice from the 
sky, telling him what is to happen. Or He can 
cause the person to see what is to happen, just 
as we see things, often in a dream. Or He can 
cause the person to think what is to happen, and 
to know certainly, that it will happen. Or He 
can do all this, in some other watj, which we 
cannot understand ; just as God does a great 
many wonderful things, which we cannot un* 
derstand. For the wisest man does not under- 
stand how it is, that God makes the corn grow, 
out of some few, little kernels that are put into 
the ground ; or how the Lod that you eat is 
turned into llesh and blood, and hard bone, and 
helps you to live, and to grow up, to be men and 
women. 

Now, if God, in some way, should tell, or 
show a person something which is to happen, 
and how it is to happen, and when it is to happen ; 
or cj;use him to think about it, and know about 
it, certainly, so as not to be mistaken in the 
least; — that person \vo\x\d foreknoiv the thing 
which is to happen; or he would have the fore- 
knowledge of it. And, if this person should tell 
other people, that the thing would certainly hap- 
pen, in such a way, and at such a time, he 
would hQ a prophet. He would y^yre^e//, or pro- 
phesy, the thing which was to happen. And^ 



HISTORY OP JONAH. 1} 

when it did happen, exactly as he had propheeied, 
the people would say, that he was a true pro- 
phet. 

There are no such prophets now. God does 
not think it best, that there should be. But, a 
great many years ago, there were such prophets 
among the Jews; and God made known to 
them things that were to happen which they told 
the people long before they did happen. 

When you grow older, you will understand 
more about this ; and you will read the prophe- 
cies in the Bible, and wonder to see, how exact- 
ly the prophets foretold what afterwards came to 
pass. 

The exact coming to pass, or, what means the 
same thing, the fulfilment, of these prophecies, 
shows us, that the Bible is true, and that God 
really told good men how to write it. For, if 
God had not given them the foreknowledge of 
what was to happen, how could they have fore- 
told, or prophesied it. The prophecies which 
they wrote have come to pass ; and, therefore, 
we know that these prophecies came from God 
himself; and so, we believe, that the Bible, 
which contains these prophecies, came from God 
himself, and that He told good men how to 
write it. 

The prophets among the Jews were, also, 
1* 



14 HISTORY OF JONAH. 

teachers of the people, and explained to them 
what God wished them to be taught about Him- 
self, and what He wished them to believe, and to 
do. They were like the clergymen, or ministers, 
who now preach to the people ; only those who 
preach now, learn from the Bible alone what 
God wishes them to say to the people ; but the 
prophets were often taught by God himself what 
He wished to be told to the Jews. And the 
Jews were bound to believe and obey the things, 
told them by the prophets, just as much as if 
they had heard God himself speaking to them 
from heaven. 

The prophets among the Jews, had great pow- 
er. The kings often used to ask them what it 
was best to do, and followed their advice. 
Nathan the prophet went to king David, and 
was not afraid to reprove him very severely for 
his wickedness. They were poor men, and 
often worked very hard. Their dress was quite 
plain. Elijah, one of the prophets, was clothed 
with skins, and wore a leathern girdle round his 
body. Their food, too, was plain. The pres- 
ents which the people gave them, were only 
bread, fruits, and honey. When Elisha, another 
of the prophets, was about to prepare food for a 
number of young men whom he taught, and 
some of whom were to be prophets, — he sent a 



HISTORY OF JONAH. 15 

man out into the field to gather herbs to boil. 
The man found some gourds, on a wild vine, 
and brought them, and put them into the pot; 
and, with some meal a kind of soup was made, 
of which they all ate. And when Elijah was 
about to go on a long journey, an angel gave 
him only bread and water to strengthen him, 
thus you see, these good men were temperate in 
all things; and if we act wisely, we shall be 
temperate also. 

Among the Jews, there were schools of the 
prophets^ where young men were taught about 
God and his laws. They were also taught to 
sing psalms, and to play on musical instruments ; 
for ths prophets sometimes prophesied, playing 
on harps and other kinds of musical instru- 
ments. 

The governor and teacher of each of these 
schools, was an aged and wise prophet, who was 
called the father, and the young men were call- 
ed the sons of the prophets; and they lived 
together in one house, and ate together at the 
same table. 

From among these sons of the prophets, God 
chose some, after they had been at the schools 
long enough ; to become prophets themselves ; — 
to tell the kings and the people what God wish- 



16 HISTORY OF JONAH. 

ed to have them do, and to foretell things that 
were to come to pass. 

Fathers and mothers among the Jews, who 
loved and obeyed God, were very glad to have 
their sons go to these schools, where they could 
receive such excellent instruction and advice 
from the old prophets. And many of these 
young men must have felt, that it was good for 
them to be there. 

Think, my dear children, how good God is, 
in providing schools for you, and especially the 
Sunday schools ; in which you can be taught 
about God and His Son Jesus Christ, and the 
Bible ; and what you must believe, and feel, and 
do, that you may grow up to do good, and be 
useful in this world, — and to be perfectly good, 
and happy in heaven forever. 



HISTORY OF JONAH. 17 



CHAPTER II. 

BirtJi^pIace of Jonah. His call to go to Nine- 
veh. Description of the city. Its great 
tuicJceclness. The danger of children becom- 
ing wicked, as the people of Nineveh were. 

The reason why I have said so much about 
the prophets among the Jews, is, that my young 
readers may understand the better who Jonah 
was, whose history I am going to tell them. 
For Jonah was b. prophet , and probably, when a 
young man, lived, for some time, at one of the 
schools of the prophets which I have described. 

The name of Jonah's father was Amittai. 
We do not know anything about him, or his 
family, onJy that they lived at Gath-hepher, a 
small town in Galilee. Galilee was that part of 
Palestine in which Jesus Christ lived while he 
was growing up; and Nazareth, the town where 
he lived with his mother Mary, and her husband 
Joseph, was but a few miles from Gath-hepher, 
the birth-place of Jonah. 

You must get some one to show you these 
places on a map of Palestine, and then you will 
understand better where they were. 

The first place in the Bible in which we read 



18 HISTORY OF JONAH. 

about Jonah, is in the fourteenth chapter of the 
second book of Kings, at the twenty-fifth verse. 
There we find, that God had spoken to the 
Israelites by his prophet Jonah, and told them, 
that they should drive their enemies back who 
had taken some of their country from them, and 
that they should have their own country again, 
as large as it was before. This prophecy of 
Jonah was fulfilled by Jeroboam, (the second of 
that name,) who was king of Israel at the time 
when Jonah lived. For he drove back the 
enemies of his people, and took from them the 
country which they had taken from the Israel- 
ites, just as Jonah had foretold. This happened 
about eight hundred years before Jesus Christ 
was born. Not far from the same time, God 
called Jonah, and said to him, * Arise, go to 
Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it ; for 
their wickedness is come up before me.' And, 
now, the history which I am going to tell you, 
begins. 

If you will look at the eleventh verse of the 
tenth chapter of Genesis, you will see that Nine- 
veh was built by Ashur, one of the sons of 
Shem. Shem was a son of Noah ; so that it 
was built (that is, the first houses in it were 
built,) not many years after the deluge. 

It was by the side of a large river, called the 



HISTORY OF JONAH. 19 

Tigris. — Ask some one to show you this river 
on the map, and you will see, that it is in Asia, 
a part of the world which is a great way from 
America, that part of the world in which you 
live. It is not known exactly where this great 
city stood. For it is all destroyed, as it was 
foretold by one of the prophets, it would be. 

Nineveh stood on a large plain, and high 
walls were built all around it. It was fifty or 
sixty miles round the city. But the place with- 
in the walls, was not all filled up with houses. 
There was a great deal of room for gardens, and 
for fields in which many cattle fed. The walls, 
it is said, were one hundred feet high, and so 
broad, that three chariots could go along side of 
each other, on the top of them. And on differ- 
ent parts of the walls were towers, in which sol- 
diers Avere placed to defend the city. The 
number of these towers is said to have been 
fifteen hundred, and their height, two hundred 
feet. Nineveh, then was a very strong, as well 
as large, city ; and it is thought, that it con- 
tained, at least, five hundred thousand people. 

The people to whom Nineveh belonged, were 
called Assyrians^ and their country was called 
Assyria. It was a great country, and they 
were very powerful people. They had large 
armies, and often used to go, and fight other 
people, many of whom they conquered, and took 



20 HISTORY OF JONAH. 

their country from them, and kept possession 
of it. 

One of their kings, whose name was Ninus, 
is said to have had a very great army indeed. 
Perhaps it is not exactly true ; (for those who 
wrote about what happened a great many, many 
years ago, sometimes tell things which are not 
exactly true;) — but it is said, that the army of 
Ninus contained one million, and seven hundred 
thousand soldiers, who marched on foot ; and 
two hundred and ten thousand, who rode on 
horses ; and ten thousand six hundred chariots, 
filled with armed men. 

Then there was a queen, Semiramis, the wife 
of Ninus, who, after his death, made Nineveh 
much more beautiful and splendid. She ordered 
large lakes to be dug ; and palaces to be built ; 
and temples, (or churches, in which the false 
gods were worshipped,) to be erected; and 
walls to be raised. 

It was a long time after this, that Jonah 
lived ; and it is not known who the king of 
Nineveh was, when Jonah ^yas sent to preach 
against that city. But we know, that it was a 
very wicked king, and that the people were very 
wicked people. 

The Bible does not tell us all the different 
ways in which the king and people of Nineveh^, 



HISTORY OF JONAH. 21 

were so wicked. But their wickedness must 
have been very great. One of the other pro- 
phets, Nahum, who foretold the entire destruc- 
tion of Nineveh, speaks of it as a very wicked 
city. He wrote, indeed, some time after Jonah 
lived ; but doubtless the kinds of wickedness of 
which he speaks, had long prevailed there. He 
calls it a bloody city, which means, that the 
people often made war upon others without any 
reason for doing so, and killed a great many. So 
that it was a city of murderers^ like Cain ; who, 
you recollect, was the first murderer, and killed 
his own brother, in great anger. And it is very 
probable, that they often quarrelled and fought 
among themselves, and killed each other, and 
that this was another reason, why Nahum call- 
ed it, a bloody city. 

He says, too, that it was all full of lies. The 
people did not speak the truth. They told false- 
hoods to other people who did business with 
them, and to each other. When they bought 
and sold things, they deceived and cheated, and 
tried to buy things for less than they were worth, 
and to sell them for more than they were worth. 
They promised to do things and did not keep 
their promise. They said false things about 
each other ; and told falsehoods.in a great many 
2 



22 HISTORY OF JONAH. 

different ways. So that it was, also, a city of 
liars, 

Nahum says again that Nineveh was all full 
of robbery. The people stole from each other. 
They did this often, in the night ; breaking into 
each other's houses, and carrying off things 
by force ; and sometimes killing the people that 
lived in the house, if they made any resistance. 
And besides this, the people of Nineveh, would 
go out of the city, and attack travellers, and 
rob, and sometimes, murder them ; and their 
armies would make war on other people, and 
fight and destroy them, and burn down their 
towns and cities, on purpose to get their money, 
and goods, and cattle. So Nineveh was a city 
of robbers. 

It was, also, as the prophet Nahum says, a 
city, the people of which worshipped idols. An 
idol, you know is something, usually in the 
shape of a man or beast, made of gold, or 
silver, or brass, or wood, or stone, which the 
people who make it, call a god. There are 
parts of the world, now, especially in India, were 
the people have idols ; and build large temples, 
or churches, for them; and have a great many 
priests, or ministers, of the idols, to wait upon 
them. They pretend to give them food to eat; 
and pray to them, and sing hymns to them; 



HISTORY OF JONAH. 23 

and draw them about on great wheels, in a kind 
of wagon called a car. Every year, hundreds 
and thousands of people come from a great dis- 
tance, and from a great many, different places, 
to worship these idols ; and the priests and the 
people, say and do a sjreat many, very wicked 
things, which are so wicked that I cannot tell 
you about them. And many people, while the 
men are drawing the idols, in the cars, throw 
themselves down on the ground before the 
heavy wheels, which soon roll over them, and 
crush them to death. They are so foolish 
as to think, that, in this way, they can get all 
their sins forgiven, and go to heaven. 

I do not know, exactly, what kind of idols the 
people of Nineveh worshipped, nor how they 
worshipped them. But they did so, in a very 
foolish and wicked way. They knew better 
than to do so. For they must have known, that 
idols cannot see, or hear, or understand, or help 
any body. And they must have known, too, 
that idols could not have made the sun, moon, 
and stars, and the world, and all the people and 
animals, and things that are in it, but that God 
must have made them, and that He was the God 
whom they should worship. And they must 
have known, that the things which they said 
and did, while worshipping their idols, were 
very foolish and wicked. 



24 HISTORY OF JONAH. 

Besides all this, the people of Nineveh tried 
to make other people worship their idols, and 
to come to Nineveh to worship them ; and to 
bring gold and silver, and goods, and other val- 
uable things, with them, some of which to give 
to the idols. In this way they led other people 
to be wicked like themselves, and hoped to 
make their city great, rich, and powerful. So 
that Nineveh was « city of idolaters. 

No doubt, all that I have mentioned was but a 
small part of the wickedness of the people of 
Nineveh. For people who are murderers, and 
liars, and robbers, and idolaters, we may be 
sure, will be very, very wicked in a great many 
other, different ways. 

Their wickedness was eo great, that God said, 
it had come up before Hhn. It hail risen as it 
were to the heavens, as dark smoke rises from a 
great fire. It had risen to the place where God 
is, to his very throne ; and had come before him 
so that He saw it in all its greatness ; and saw 
that it was time for Him to punish the people of 
Nineveh, very severely, if they did not repent. 

You read, in the Bible, how often God has 
punished wicked people, who kept on in their 
wickedness, and did not repent. He ilestroyed, 
you remember, all the wicked people who lived 
in the world, by a deluge ; saving only Noah 
and his family in the ark. He destroyed the 



HISTORY OF JONAH. 25 

wicked cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, and all 
the people who lived in them, by fire sent down 
from heave i ; s ving only Lot and his two 
daughters ; — though Lot's wife \A'ould have been 
preserved alive, also, if she had not been disobe- 
dient to the angel of God. 

God hates wickedness ; He cannot bear to 
look on it. He is very merciful, it is true, and 
■will forgive those who have been wicked, if they 
will be truly sorry for their sins, and trust in 
Jesus Christ to save them ; and show, that they 
really do so, by forsaking their sins, and obey- 
ing the commands of God. But the wicked w^ho 
keep on in their wickedness ; and do not repent 
and trust in Christ, and who do not love and 
obey God ; He will punish very severely indeed. 
For Jesus Christ himself tells us, that such 
wicked people will be sent, at the day of judg- 
ment, into everlasting fire ^ prepared for the devil 
and his angels. 

Think of these things, my dear children. 
You may not be, and I think you are not, mur- 
derers, liars, robbers, and idolaters, as the peo- 
ple of Nineveh were. But are you never some- 
what nice them ? 

Are you not, sometimes, angry with your 
Ijrothers and sisters, and with other children, 

and strike them, and hurt them ? Suppose you 

2# 



26 HISTORY OF JONAH, 

keep on doing so, more and more, till you grow 
up to be men and women. Is there not great 
danger that you will become very passionate, 
and have a very bad temper ; and that some time 
or other, you may get in such a rage as to kill 
somebody ? 

For the murderer himself will tell you, that 
when he was a little child, he never thought he 
should be a murderer. And yet, you see, he 
has become so because he did not repent of his 
sinful anger, when he was young, and pray ta 
God, to enable him to get rid of it. Children 
who get into a passion, and strike and hurt 
others, and keep on doing so, are certainly in 
great danger of becoming murderers, as the 
people of Nineveh were. 

You may not, my dear children, be liars, a&th« 
people of Nineveh were. But have you never told 
any falsehoods? have you never deceived any 
body, and said what was not the exact truth ? Re- 
member, if you keep on doing so, you will grow 
more and more careless about telling the truth; 
and will be in great danger of telling falsehoods; 
and of doing this more and more, and at last, of 
becoming liars, as the people of Nineveh were. 

You have never robbed any body. But have 
you never taken any thing that was not your own 
and kept it? Have you never kept any thing 



HISTORY OF JONAH, 27 

that you have found, without trying, or even wish- 
ingy to find the owner, and return it to him. Peo- 
ple do not become great thieves and robbers, at 
once. They take little things, at first, which 
they think are not worth much, and which oth- 
ers will not miss, or even want to use again. 
And they keep on taking things till they become 
more and more wicked, and, at last, get to be 
great thieves, and robbers, as the people of Nin- 
eveh were. 

Besides, people would not steal anything if 
they did not first covet it, or wish to have for their 
own what belongs to another. And this is the 
reason, why God, in the tenth commandment, 
says, Thou slialt not covet anything that is thy 
neighbor^ s ; — thou shalt not wish to take from 
another what belongs to him, and deprive him of 
it, and have it for thy own. 

My dear children, have you never broken this 
tenth commandment ? If so, and if you continue 
to covet things which belong to others, although 
you may not have yet begun^" to steal anything, 
is there not great danger of your doing this, and 
of your becoming thieves, and perhaps robbers, 
as the people of Nineveh were ? 

You do not make any idols to worship. Many 
of you have never seen an idol. But, although 
jou do not worship idols, instead of the true God, 



28 HISTORY OF JONAH. 

do you not love many things more than you love 
God? If so, it is very much the same thing as 
if you loved and worshipped idols, instead of lov- 
ing and worshipping the true God. 

For why do people make and worship idols ? 
It is because they do not feel willing to love, and 
obey, and worship God. They dislike to do this. 
There is something in the true God which they 
do not like. They like their idols better. They 
know, that the true God commands them to be 
like Himself, and to quit all kinds of wickedness, 
and to he good, and to do good. They know^ 
too, that the idol does not command this, and 
that, while they love, and serve, and worship the 
idol, or false god, they can keep on in all their 
wickedness. So they choose to do it. 

Now, if you love anything more than you love 
God, you have your idols, too, my dear children. 
They may not be idols of wood, or stone, such 
as the people of Nineveh had ; but they are things 
which you love so much, that they keep you from 
loving and obeying God as you ought. And you 
do indeed break the first commandment, as truly 
as the people of Nineveh did. 

The first commandment is, thou shalt have no 
other gods before me ; and Jesus Christ has told 
us, that this means the same thing as to say, thou, 
shalt love the Lord thy God, with all thy heart,. 



HISTORY OF JONAH. 29 

and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, 
and with all thy mind. 

Do you thus love God, my dear children ; or 
do you love other things a great deal more than 
you love God ? If you do not love God the most, 
1 fear, if you had lived in Nineveh, you would 
have worshipped their idols, and been idolaters 
as they were. 

Think of these things. Look into your minds 
and hearts. See if you have right thoughts, and 
feelings, such as God commands you to have. 
See if you love Him more than anything else ; 
see if you say and do what He commands. 

If you have not done this; if you have had 
wrong and wicked thoughts and feelings ; if you 
have said and done, very often, what you ought 
not to say and do ; — then God has been very 
much displeased with you. And He is still dis- 
pleased with you ; and will continue to be so, if 
you do njt feel sorry for all your wickedness, and 
trust in Christ to save you. 

Do not think bf:;cause you are not now as wick- 
ed as the people of Nineveh were, that you are 
but a little wicked, and that God will not punish 
you. He will punish all the wicked persons who 
do not repent of their wickedness and forsake it. 

Fear, too, my dear children, that if you keep 
on in your wickedness, you may, at last, become 



30 HISTORY OF JONAH. 

as wicked as the people of Nineveh were. That 
will be dreadful, indeed ! For such wickedness, 
if it is not repented of, and forsaken, will meet 
with a very terrible punishment, after death, in 
the future world. 



CHAPTER III. 

Jonah tries to flee to Tarshisli. A dreadful storm. 
The sailors cry to their false gods. They 
throw their goods overboard, to save the ship. 
Men will part icith anything to save their lives. 
How much more ought we to he ivilling to part 
with anything to save our souls. 

The wickedness of Nineveh was so great, that 
God commanded Jonah to go and cry against it ; 
— to go, and cry aloud, in the streets of the city, 
so that all the people could hear him, and tell 
them of their great wickedness, and of the dread- 
ful punishment which their sins deserved. 

Jonah was afraid to do this. He thought it 
would be a difficult and dangerous journey, to go 
alone, a great way from his own country, among 
strangers. And, when he should get to Nineveh, 
and begin to preach to the people, he feared, that 
they would be very angry with him, and, perhaps, 



HISTORY OF JONAH. 31 

kill him. He forgot, that God could take care 
of him ; and that it was his duty to obey God, 
whatever might happen to him. For no fear of 
anything, however dreadful^ which man can do 
unto us, should lead us to disobey the commands 
of God. 

Being thus afraid to do as God commanded 
him, Jonah thought if he could get out of his own 
country, and from the presence of the Lord, from 
that peculiar presence of God^ which, in some 
way, he was sensible of, when called upon to 
prophesy, God might not again direct him to go 
to Nineveh. So he went to a place on the sea- 
coast, called Joppa, where he found a ship about 
to sail to Tarshish, and there he thought he should 
be safe. For Tarshish was a great distance from 
Joppa ; and, as some think, it was in Cilicia, a 
country at the east end of the Mediterranean sea. 
But in all this, Jonah acted both foolishly and 
wickedly. For how could he hope to escape from 
God, who could see him as well at Tarshish, as 
in his own country ; and would do with him as 
He thought best, as well in one place, as in 
another. 

Jonah forgot all this, and paid the master of 
the ship what he asked, for carrying a person 
from Joppa to Tarshish, and went on board. 
Pretty soon, the ship sailed from Joppa, and got 



32 



HISTORY OF JONAH. 



out into the sea, a great way from land. And a5 
the wind blew fair, and the ship went pleasantly 
along, through the waves, Jonah felt more and 
more secure. He looked towards his own coun- 
try which he had left, and thought from how 
much trouble and danger he was escaping. He 
looked towards the place where he was going, 
and expected before long to be there ; and there, 
he thought, God would let him remain, without 
commanding him any more to go to Nineveh, 




Sometimes it is so with persons who are doing 
wrong. Everything seems to go on pleasantly ; 
and they think, it will always do so. But, soon- 
er or later, those who disobey the commands of 
God, and continue to do so, will find trouble and 



HISTORY OF JONAH. 33 

sorrow ; and if this does not happen to them in 
this life, it certainly will in that which is to come. 
For God tells us, in the Bible, that there is no 
peace unio the wicked; — no peace that will be of 
long continuance ; sometimes, it is wholly de- 
stroyed in this world, and it will certainly be so 
in the next. 

It was not long before Jonah found this to be 
true, in his own case. ' The Lord sent out a 
great wind into the sea, and there was a mighty 
tempest in the sea, so that the ship was like to 
be broken.' 

A violent storm at sea, is a terrible sight. The 
ship rolls about ; sometimes, on one side, and 
sometimes, on the other. The large pieces of 
wood of which it is built, and which are fastened 
together, are pulled and strained, and make a 
loud creaking noise; and, sometimes, it almost 
seems as if they would come apart. The sails 
flap about ; the ropes creak ; the masts tremble ; 
the captain is crying with a loud voice, to tell the 
sailors what to do; and they are running, one 
way and another, pulling the ropes, and aJtering 
the sails, to try to keep the ship right, so that it 
may not upset and sink. 

All the sky is covered with dark clouds, so 
that, in the night the moon and stars cannot be 
seen ; and, in the day time, it looks almost as if 
3 



34 UrSTORY OF JONAH. 

it was night. The rain falls fast ; the wind blows 
furiously ; the waves roll high, like hills or moun- 
tains, and the ship rides fearfully over them. 
Sometimes it is at the bottom of the waves with 
high waves all around it, looking as if they were 
just about to come over it, and bury it in the deep. 
Then the ship goes up a steep wave, like a wagon 
ascending a hill, only it mounts up with astonishing 
swiftness. Then it stands a moment, on the very 
top of the wave, balanced there, and trembling. 
Then suddenly it begins to descend again, and 
down it goes, down the long, steep wave into the 
gulf below, as if to be buried in the ocean and 
lost forever. 

How do you think you would feel in such a 
storm at sea, if you were to stand on the deck of 
the ship, and look all round, and see what I have 
been describing to you ? Would you not be very 
much afraid ; and feel that it was God alone 
who could save you ; and pray to Him for pro- 
tection ? 

Yes ; not only little boys and girls are afraid 
in such storms at sea, but men and women also. 
And it often happens, that the captain and sail- 
ors are afraid, and will cry to God to save them ; 
though at other times, perhaps, they think very 
little about Him, or even take His name in vain, 
and do many wicked things. No persons are 



HISTORY OF JONAH. 35 

more afraid to die, or more alarmed when they 
are in great danger, and death seems to be near, 
than those wicked people are, who are the least 
prepared to die. 

It was just so with the persons who had the 
care of the ship in which Jonah was, while the 
tempest was raging. The captain and the sail- 
ors, or, as they are also called, ' the mariners , were 
afraid, and cried every man unto his god.' 

These men, it seems, did not all worship the 
same God. Perhaps, they, were of different 
countries ; for this is often the case among the 
sailors who are on board the same ship. None 
of them knew the true God. They were false 
gods, and idols, which they worshipped : and 
these were different, one from another. How 
strange, that they should think, that these differ- 
ent gods, should have made the storm. Did they 
all unite together, to make it ? Or did one god 
make it cloudy ; and another make it rain ; and 
another cause the wind to blow ; and still another 
the waves to rise ? 

How happy we are, that we know so much 
better than these poor mariners did. We know, 
that there j- but one true and living God, and 
that He made all things, and governs all things. 
We know, that it is He, and He alone, who gives 
sunshine and clouds, fair weather, and rainy 



36 HISTORY OF JONAH. 

weather ; who causes the soft and gentle breezes 
to fan the air, or bids the winds blow roughly, 
and storms and tempests to arise. Ke has taught 
us this in the Bible, and that we should pray to 
Him alone, to save us in times of difficulty and 
danger. God has been very kind thus to make 
Himself known to us ; and ought we not to pity 
those who have not yet the Bible in their hands, 
and who, like the mariners in the ship with Jo- 
nah, still look to false gods, and to idols, to pro- 
tect them? Ought we not to do all we can, to 
give them the Bible, that they may know the true 
God, and Jesus Christ whom God has sent into 
the world, to save us from what is a great deal 
more dreadful than a storm at sea, or the loss of 
our lives, — to save us from the loss of our never 
dying souls ? 

After crying for help to their false gods, the 
mariners began to take the goods that were in 
the ship, and to cast them overboard into the sea. 
And they cast them all overboard; hoping that 
this would lighten the sh.p so much, that it 
would ride more easily over the waves, and not 
be in danger, as it was, every moment, of being 
filled with water, and of sinking into the deep. 

Men will do anything to save their lives. If 
necessary they will part with the most valuable 
things, and even be willing to lose all that they 



HISTORY OF JONAH. 37 

have. If you had been in that ship, my dear 
children, would you not have been ready to throw 
all the things that belonged to you overboard, and 
never see them again, if, by so doing, you could 
have helped to lighten the ship, and save your 
lives ? 

I dare say, you would have done so very quick- 
ly and cheerfully. You would not have hesita- 
ted to do it a moment. 

Are you now willing to do as much, to save 
your souls ? Your souls are worth a great deal 
more than your bodies. In a few years, your 
bodies will die, and moulder away to dust. But 
your souls will never die. They will live hun- 
dreds, and thousands, and millions of years ; — 
longer than you could count in a whole year, — 
longer than all the people in the world could 
count, if they should keep on counting all their 
lives, and if all that they should count could be 
added together, and make a number of years so 
vast, that you could not think how vast it would 
be. Your souls will live hundreds, and thousands, 
and millions of years longer than this vast num- 
ber of years, — and longer still, and longer. Your 
souls will still keep on living, they will live as 
long as God lives, that is, they will live forever. 

And your souls will be happy forever, or they 
3* 



38 HISTORY OF JONAH. 

will be wretched forever. God tells us so in the 
Bible. 

You would cast away all that you have, all 
that you love most, if it were necessary to do this, 
in order to save your lives. How much are you 
willing,, and ready, to cast away, to save your 
souls ? Jesus Christ has told us, that, if we have 
anything, as precious to us even as one of our 
eyes is, and which keeps us from loving God with 
all our hearts and our neighbor as ourselves ; or 
which leads us to think, to feel, or to act wicked- 
ly ; we must give it up, we must cast it away 
from us, as the mariners in the ship threw their 
goods into the sea. No matter how precious it 
is to us, or how much soever we love it, we must 
love it no more, we must part with it readily and 
cheerfully, that we may not be tempted by it to 
sin ; and that we may be the better able to love 
and obey God ; and to love and do good to others. 
— And Jesus Christ says, if we do not do so, we 
cannot be His friends, — we cannot be saved by 
Him. 

On Sunday, perhaps, you had rather play, or 
read some amusing story book, than go to church 
and the Sunday school, or, if you are at home, 
than to think of God, and pray to Him, and read 
His holy word. Then you are unwilling to give up 
these things that you may save your souls. For 



HTSTOUY OF JONAH, 39 

your souls will be lost unless you trust in Christ, 
xind love Him; and He has said, that if you do 
indeed love Him, you will keep His command- 
ments. His commandments are the same as 
Ood's commandments, one of which, as you 
know is Remember the Sabbath day to Jceep it holy. 

And so, if you do anything else that keeps 
you from loving and obeying God ; or if you love 
anything else, more than you love God ; and are 
unwilling to give up and forsake these things ; 
it shows, that you are not so wise as the mariners 
in the ship with Jonah, were. How foolish they 
w^ould have been, to refuse to cast their goods in- 
to the sea, if doing so would render it more prob- 
able, that their lives would be saved. 

How much more foolish and guilty, ray dear 
children, will you be, if you are unwilling to give 
up, and forsake, any thing that will prevent you 
from trusting in Christ, and loving and obeying 
God, and saving your souls. 

Hear what our Saviour, Jesus Christ, says on 
this subject, and may you never forget it. 

I^or what is a man profited^ (what real gain 
will it be to him,) if he shall gain the whole world, 
(every thing in it that he loves and wishes to 
possess,) and lose his own soul, (never go to 
heaven, to be happy there, but be miserable in 
hell forever ;) — or what shall a man give in ex- 
change for his soul? 



40 HISTORY OF JONAH. 

What, TTiy dear children, would you be willing 
to give away, or exchange, for your life, that it 
might be snved, if you were in danger of losing 
it, as the mariners and Jonah were, of losing 
theirs ? You would give up anything, and every- 
thing. Are you willing to do the same, that 
your never-dying souls may he saved ? I ask you 
the question. You can answer it to yourselves. 



CHAPTER IV. 

Jonah asleep. The captain wakes him, and calls 
upon him to pray. Sinning makes people leave 
off praying. Remorse a source of wretched- 
ness. Casting lots explained. The mariners 
cast lots. The lot falls on Jonah, 

While the storm was still raging, and the mari- 
ners busily engaged in throwing their goods over- 
board, Jonah was gone down inside of the ship, 
and was there fast asleep. The rattling of the 
rain, the roaring of the wind, the waves rolling 
and beating against the ship, and all the noise 
which the captain and sailors made, in throwing 
the goods overboard, did not awake him. He 
slept soundly, and was perhaps dreaming of sail- 
ing along pleasantly to Tarshish, and of soon ar- 



HISTORY OF JONAH. 41 

Tiving there. He must have been very much 
f5tarlled and surprised, as he awoke, on hearing 
the master of the ship crying out, with a loud 
voice, — ^ What meanest thou, O sleeper? arise, 
call upon thy God, if so be that God will think 
upon us, that we perish not.' 




The mariners had all been praying to the gods 
in whom they believed, and the captain thought, 
that Jonah ought to pray to his God also. He 
might have thought, that this God of Jonah, if 
Jonah prayed to Him, would be more able to 
save them, than the gods to whom they had been 
praying, and of whose assistance he now began 
quite to despair. 

We do not read in the Bible what Jonah said 



42 HISTORY OF JONAH. 

to the master of the ship. It is very probable, 
that he was greatly alarmed, and that he began 
to fear, that he was about 1o be punished for his 
wickedness in disobeying the command of God, 
to go to Nineveh. It is not probable, that he 
])rayed for forgiveness and deliverance. If he had, 
I think the Bible would have told us so. When 
people do as Jonah did, and go on sinning against 
God, and forget their duty, and think they are 
safe, if sudden danger overtakes them, they feel 
both ashamed and afraid to pray. They ought 
to pray, — to pray immediately, — to confess their 
wickedness to God, to beseech Him to forgive 
them, and to deliver them from the evil which 
they fear. But it is very seldom that they do so. 
For there is an old saying, which is a very true 
one, and which, I hope yoj will always remem- 
ber • praying will make people leave off sinning^ 
or sinning will make them leave off praying. 
When you find, my dear children, that you do 
not wish to pray to God daily, and that you put 
off doing it, because it is disagreeable to you, you 
may be sure, that there is something wrong 
about it. You are taking pleasure in some kind 
of sin ; you love something a great deal more than 
you love God : — and that is the reason, that you 
do not pray to Him. You are disobeying some 
of his commands, as Jonah did ; and while con- 



HISTORY OF JONAH. 43 

tinuing to do this, and knowing all the while that 
jou are doing it, you will find, either that you are 
unwilling to pray at ail, or that if you attempt to 
do it, you do not pray from the heart. The surest 
\vay to prevent this is to avoid all kinds of wick- 
edness, and to pray earnestly to God, to deliver 
you from it, and to enable you to love and obey 
Him. If Jonah had done this, he would not 
have disobeyed the command of God, nor have 
been overtaken by so dreadful a storm. 

Praying to their gods, and casting their goods 
overboard, seemed to be of no use. The storm 
still raged violently, and the poor mariners 
thought that it could not be long, unless there 
was some change for the better, before their ves- 
sel would be shipwrecked, and themselves lost in 
the depths of the sea. 

They began to think, that there must be some 
particular reason for such a terrible storm, and 
that some one of their gods, or perhaps, the God 
of Jonah, was angry with them, on account of the 
wickedness of some one on board. They talked 
so among themselves, and each one said, he wish- 
ed they could find out for whose cause the evil 
had come upon them. Each one ought to have 
thought of his own wickedness, and that it was 
itself a sufficient cause for the evil. But every 
one was willing to excuse himself, and to think 



44 HISTOUY OF JONAH. 

that somebody else was a great deal more wick- 
ed than he was ; and so much mure wicked than 
himself and all the others were, as to call down 
the vengeance of his god upon them. 

When children see that their parents look dis- 
pleased, and do not treat them as they do when 
they are good children, they begin to think, that 
it is because they have done something wrong ; 
and, if they know that they have been wicked 
and disobedient, they fear the still greater dis- 
pleasure of their parents, and that some severe 
punishment is near at hand. And in the same 
way, wicked men are often in great fear, when 
some trouble overtakes them. It sets them to 
thinking on their wickedness, and to consider 
how much it deserves the displeasure of God, and 
they fear that He will inflict some dreadful pun- 
ishment upon them. This is what is called rc- 
morse. It is a most unhappy feeling, and is oft- 
en more distressing than any other pain which 
wc can endure. I dare say you have felt it some- 
times, my dear children. If you are wicked, you 
will feel it again, and if you grow more and 
more wicked, this remorse will grow more and 
more distressing; unless you should become so 
very, very wicked, and so hardened in sin, as 
not to feel it at all. How dreadful that would 
b« I Bat it would not last long. For, after the 



HISTORY OF JONAH. 45 

souls of wicked persons who do not repent, and 
trust in Christ, and love and obey God, — go into 
the other world, they remember all their past 
wickedness ; and remorse wakes up again, and 
they feel it in all its bitterness. They will feel 
it forever, and it will be the principal cause of 
their wretchedness^ to think how very sinful and 
foolish they have been, and how justly they de- 
serve to be cast out from heaven, and to suffer 
the terrible displeasure of God. 

Oh \ my dear children, if you wish to avoid this 
remorse, both in this world and the next, fear to 
sin against God, and beseech Him to keep you 
from all sin. 

In order to find out, if possible, who the very 
wicked person was, that was the cause of the 
great evil which had befallen them, tlie mari- 
ners on board of the ship^ proposed to cast lots, 
and see upon whom the lot WDuld fall. 

Persons sometimes draw lots, by putting sev- 
eral strips of paper, of different lengths, into a 
book, and seeing who will draw the longest one ; 
and th^ person drawing it, is to have, or to do, a 
certain thing. 

This casting of lots was more common in for- 
mer times than it is now. The old Greeks and 
Romans used often to do it, and the Jews also. 
God sometimes commanded the Jews to do it. 
4 



46 HlSTORr OF JONAH. 

You will find an account of the casting of lots, 
in the beginning of the sixteenth chapter of Le- 
viticus. It was ordered by God, that Aaron 
might determine which of two goats should be 
offered up in sacrifice, and which should be sent 
away alive into the wilderness. 

You will see, also, in the twenty-sixth chapter 
of Numbers, the fifty-fifth verse, that God order- 
ed the land which He gave the Israelites, to be 
divided among the people by lot. 

Cities also were given to the priests and Le- 
vites by lot, as you may read in the twenty-first 
chapter of Joshua. 

In the first chapter of Acts, you will see anoth- 
er instance of casting lots. It was done by the 
disciples, after Peter had told them that another 
apostle ought to be chosen in the place of Judas, 
who betrayed Christ and afterwards hung him- 
self They selected two, and prayed, and then 
cast lots, and the lot fell upon Matthias. 

You remem.ber, also, that when our Saviour 
was crucified, the soldiers took his garments, and 
cast lots, to see what every man should take. 
How these lots were cast we do not exactly know. 
Perhaps the name of each person was written on 
something, and all the names thrown into the lap 
of some one, who folded his loose robe all round 
them, so that nobody could see them, and then 



HISTORY OF JONAH. 47 

putting his hand under the fold, and feeling 
among them, drew one out, without being able to 
know beforehand which it would be. For we 
read in Proverbs, The lot is cast into the lap : 
hut the whole disposing thereof is of the Lord. 

Lots have been used both for good and for 
bad purposes. They are used for very bad pur- 
poses, in lotteries; in which foolish people buy 
tickets, a few of which draw prizes, but most of 
them blanks, or nothing. These lotteries do a 
great deal of harm. They make a great many 
people idle, and lazy, and dishonest. They 
ruin many ; and most of those who get money 
in them are greatly injured by growing rich so 
suddenly. I hope you will never buy a ticket in 
a lottery. If anybody should ever offer to give 
you a ticket, you ought not to take it. You should 
avoid having anything to do v»^ith this wicked 
way of drawing lots. 

After the mariners in the ship had cast the 
lots, the lot fell upon Jonah. He must have 
thought before, that he was the person who had 
particularly called down the displeasure of God, 
and that it was on his account, that the storm 
was threatening them with instant destruction. 
It would have been well if he had confessed 
this. But he did not. He endeavored to con- 
ceal his guilt, till at length the lot falling upon 



48 HISTORY OF JONAH. 

him, he must have begun to feel not a fittle 
agitated. 

Still he did not tell them of his disobedience 
to the command of God, and why he had 
embarked in their ship to go to Tarshish. 



CHAPTER V. 

Jonah fells loho he is, and why he wished to go to 
Tarshish. Sin will, sooner or later, he defect' 
ed. The mariners are in great alarm, Jonah 
tells them to cast him into the sea. They^ 
at length, do it. Jonah^ s feelings. Children 
may die unexpectedly. Are we prepared to 
die ? 

The mariners, finding that the lot had fallen 
upon Jonah, were anxious to know, if he, indeed, 
was the cause of their calamity; and, as he did 
not appear to be ready to give any explanation 
of the matter, they asked him a number of 
questions. * Tell us,' said they, ' we pray thee, 
for whose cause this evil is upon us. What is 
thine occupation? And whence comest thou? 
What is thy country ? And of what people art 
thou?' 



HISTORY OF JONAH. 49 

Although they began to suspect that there 
was something wrong about Jonah, yet they 
treated him kindly. They wished to give him a 
fair opportunity of letting them know who he 
was, and what was his business. They thought, 
that by knowing this, and also the character of 
his countrymen, they might, perhaps, be the bet- 
ter able to judge concerning him, whether he 
was an honest man, or one who had been guilty 
of some great crime, and was endeavoring to 
escape from punishment. 

Jonah replied, ' I am a Hebrew ; and I fear 
the| Lord, the God of heaven, which hath made 
the sea, and the dry land.' He also told them, 
how God had commanded him to go to Nineveh, 
and cry against it, and confessed, at last, his 
disobedience and guilt, in endeavoring to flee 
away from the performance of his duty. 

By this time, he began to have some true 
sorrow for his conduct ; and he must have felt 
deeply humbled and ashamed thus to acknow- 
ledge his wickedness, before these poor, igno- 
rant idolaters. For, though belonging to the 
nation of the Hebrews, whom God had chosen to 
be his peculiar people, and whom He had 
taught to understand his true character, and how 
they must love and obey Him, — Jonah had 
acted as if he had known as little about the true 
4* 



$0 HiSTORr OF JONAH. 

God, as the mariners themselves did. He had 
great light and knowledge, and yfet he sinned 
against this light and knowledge. He was a 
prophet, too, as he told them, and this occupa- 
tion was of the most important and honorable kind ; 
-^he was chosen by God himself to preach to his 
Countrymen, and sometimes he foretold future! 
events. And yet, how little he had acted like a 
prophet of the Lord. God had directed him to 
perform a great and difficult duty, but he had 
shrunk from it in a very cowardly way, and fool- 
ishly thought that he could get rid of it, by 
escaping from his own country, and fleeing 
beyond the call of God, to a distant land; 

And so it is, my dear children, that, sooner or 
later, those who disobey the commands of God, 
and commit sin, will be discovered, and their 
wickedness brought to light. This very often 
happens, as in the case of Jonah, in this world, 
and, if not, it sure!]/ will in the next. For wd 
are told, in the Bible, that God shall bring every 
work into judgment ; with every secret things 
whether it be good, or whether it be evil. We 
shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. 
Every one of us shall give account of himself 
to (rod. And our Saviour says, to show hov) 
particular this account tdill be, — Every idle word 
that men shall speak, they shall give account 
thereof in the day of judgment. 



HlStORY OP JONAH. 51 

When Jonah had told the mariners who he 
was, and why he had embarked on board their 
ship, to go to Tarshish, they were exceedingly 
afraid, and said to him, * Why hast thou done 
this ? ' They knew something, probably, of the 
Hebrews, and what a great and powerful people 
they were. They might have heardj that this 
people w^orshipped a different God from the 
gods of other nations, and that their God had 
done great wonders, in enabling them to con^ 
quer the inhabitants of Canaan, and to take pos- 
session of their country. And when they found 
that Jonah was one of this people, and that his 
God, as he told them, had made the sea, and the 
dry land, they began to feel in awe of this great 
God. They saw, as they supposed, the anger 
6f this God shown towards Jonah, for his diso- 
bedience, in the dreadful storm which was still 
raging, in all its fury, around them. If this God 
was the Creator of the sea and land, he must be 
a powerful God, indeed ; and what might they 
not, themselves, have to fear from his displeasure^ 
For they knew, they had been wicked very 
often ; and if God followed one of his own peo* 
pie and even his own prophet, with such terrible 
marks of his indignation against sin, what might 
not they have to fear from the same indignation* 
One offence of Jonah, in endeavoring merely to 



52 HISTORY OF JONAH. 

escape from the performance of a duty which he 
considered very dangerous, had drawn down 
upon him the anger of God. How much reason, 
then, had they to dread this anger, when they 
considered the number of their own past offences. 
For though they had not known the true God, 
they might have known Him if they had, in 
good earnest, sought to do it. Besides, they had 
always known many things which they ought to 
have done, and which they did not do, and many 
things which they ought not to have done, and 
which they did do. They felt guilty. They 
trembled, and were afraid, lest the God of 
Jonah ; the God who made the sea and dry 
land; the God of truth and justice, might de- 
stroy them. 

They said to Jonah, ^ Why hast thou done 
this?' 'If thou dost, indeed, believe in the 
true God, and art one of his own favored people, 
and one of his own prophets, too, how hast thou 
dared to disobey Him? What a foolish and 
wicked man thou art, to bring thyself and us 
into this great distress and danger. If we had 
known all this, and why thou wast so anxious to 
go to Tarshish, we would not have taken thee on 
board our ship, and then we should have escap- 
ed this dreadful storm.* 

While they were thus speaking, the sea grew 



HISTORY OF JONAH. 53 

Still more tempestuous. The wind blew more 
furiously. The waves beat more terribly against 
them, and, often, dashed quite over the ship, 
threatening to overwhelm them, at once, and 
bury them in the deep. What could they do I 
They stood in some awe of Jonah, for he had 
told them, that he was a prophet of the true God. 
Although they knew, that God was very angry 
with him, yet they did not dare to do him any 
harm. They wished to know what he thought 
ought to be done ; thinking, perhaps, that God 
would direct Jonah what to do, and that, if so, 
he would fear again to be disobedient to God. 

* What shall we do unto thee,' said they, 
*that the sea may be calm unto us?' They 
might have thought of throwing him overboard ; 
and their manner of speaking seems as if they 
really did think of doing it. But they had a 
dread of Jonah^ as a prophet of the true God ; 
and, before proceeding to get rid of him, in that 
way, they wished to see, if he had anything 
different to propose. 

Jonah must have felt very unhappy at this time. 
His guilt was known to the mariners. They 
looked on him as very ungrateful, and disobedi- 
ent, to the God of his people, who had done so 
much for them, and for him. They reg»arded 
him as the cause of the great calamity which had 



54 HISTORY OF JONAH. 

befallen them. They thought, there was no 
hope of deliverance, so long as he remained with 
them, a cowardly and wicked prophet, attempt- 
ing to flee from God and his duty. He was 
ashamed and humbled, before men. He trem- 
bled and feared, before God. We have reason, 
also, to think that he felt sorry for what he had 
done, and repented of it ; and that he was willing, 
himself alone, to endure the displeasure of God, 
without having this displeasure fall upon those 
who were with him. 

* Take me up, and cast me forth into the sea ; 
so shall the sea be calm unto you : for I know 
that for my sake, this great tempest is upon you.' 
It is possible, that in some way, God directed 
Jonah to tell the mariners to do this. It would 
seem as if this was so, for if it were not, how could 
Jonah have assured them so positively, that, on 
throwing him overboard, the sea would imme- 
diately become calm, and their danger be at an 
end. He thus* fully confessed to them, that it 
was on account of his wickedness, that the great 
tempest had come upon them ; and that their 
safety depended on their getting rid of him, as 
soon as possible. 

But for some reason, the mariners did not seem 
willing to do any harm to Jonah. They might 
still be in awe of him, as a prophet of the 



HISTORY OP JONAH. 55 

true God. They might feel sorry for him, see- 
ing him so humbled and^penitent, and wish, if 
possible, to spare his life. So they made one 
more effort to save the ship. They rowed, with 
all their might, to bring it to the land ; but they 
were not able to do it. The wind blew very 
hard from the shore, and the high waves beat 
against the ship, driving it farther and farther 
out to sea. And now, indeed, the storm grew 
worse and worse, and destruction seemed very 
near. The next moment, they miglit be buried 
in the deep waters. 

They at length concluded to cast Jonah over- 
board. But, before doing it, they felt that it was 
right to pray, — not to their own false gods who 
could not hear or help them, — but to the God of 
Jonah, the true God who made the sea and dry 
land, and who was now showing them his great 
power, and his terrible displeasure against sin. 

* They cried unto the Lord, and said, We be- 
seech thee, O Lord, we beseech thee, let us not 
perish for this man's life, and lay not upon us, 
innocent blood : for thou, O Lord, hast done as 
it pleased thee.' 

They seemed still to be very reluctant to cast 
Jonah into the sea, and to be willing to do it, only 
because it was absolutely necessary, and even 
pointed out to them as their duty by God him- 



63 HISTORY OF JONAH. 

self, who does all things as He pleases. It was 
his pleasure, that the dreadful tempest should 
arise, and threaten them with destruction ; that, 
when the lots were cast, the lot should fall upon 
Jonah ; that he should confess his guilt ; and that 
he should tell them to throw him into the sea. In 
doing this, they besought God not to cause them 
to perish, for being instrumental in taking away 
the life of his prophet, and not to lay upon them 
innocent blood ; — that is, not to lay upon them 
the guilt of having shed the blood, or destroyed 
the life of a person who was innocent of having 
committed any wickedness. Jonah was not such 
an innocent person. On the contrary, he had 
been guilty of a great sin, and felt himself that 
he deserved to die, and that it was right that his 
life should be sacrificed, to save the lives of oth- 
ers. 

* So they took up Jonah, and cast him forth 
into the sea.' 

How Jonah must have trembled and feared, at 
this moment ! In the midst of such alarm and 
consternation ; with a furious tempest raging; the 
heavens all covered with black cloud.s ; the rain 
descending in torrents ; the winds roaring ; the 
waves rolling and dashing against the ship, and 
everything manifesting the great displeasure of 
God ; — himself the object of this displeasure, and 



HISTORY OF JONAH. 57 

about to be plunged into the deep waters, there, 
as he thought, to die, alone, forsaken both of God 
and man. He must have shrunk back and shud- 
dered at what was before him, as the mariners 
lifted him over the sides of the ship, and cast hini 
off from them, a poor, helpless, sinful man. 




My dear children, how do you expect to feel, 
when you come to die ? You will not be thrown 
overboard from a ship as Jonah was ; but it is 
possible, that you may be drowned in the water, 
or lose your life in some very sudden, and unex- 
pected manner. God does all things as He 
pleases. If He thinks it best. He can cause you 
to die at any moment. Many youth and little 
children, die very unexpectedly, and others with 
5 



58 HISTORY OF JONAH. 

disease, and sickness. If you go and examine the 
grave-stones in the burying-ground, you will see 
the names of not a few young children, and their 
ages, on them. How soon will your turn come, 
to be laid alongside of them, in the dark and 
silent tomb ? How soon will your soul, going 
out of the body, appear before God, and there 
have to give an account to Him of all that you 
have thought, felt, said and done ? Have you 
truly repented of all your sins ? Have you truly 
trusted in Christ to save you? Do you love this 
Saviour ? Do you obey his commands ? Do you 
endeavor to do as He did, — to love and serve God^ 
and do all the good you can to others 1 Do you 
pray to God daily, that He would give you his 
Holy Spirit, to enable you thus to love Him, with 
all your heart and soul and strength and mind, 
and your neighbor, (that is everybody whom you 
have anything to do with,) as yourselves ? This 
is the way^ and the only ivay, to he prepared to 
die. Are you thus prepared to die, my dear 
children ? 



HISTOZIY OF JONAH. 59 



CHAPTER VI. 

The storm ceases. The mariners fear before the 
■power of God. Tliey worship Him, for His 
goodness. How much more grateful to God 
ought we to he. The meaning of sacrifices. 
Christ the great sacrifice. A dreadful punish-- 
ment will overtake the impenitent. 

As soon as Jonah was cast into the sea, it 
ceased from raging. The wind abated, and blew 
only a gentle breeze. The rain fell no longer. 
The clouds grew lighter ; and here and there the 
blue sky was seen. The waves rolled less and 
less furiously ; the ship began to ride over them 
more easily, and the danger appeared to be quite 
gone. It was God who did it. For as Jonah 
told the mariners. He is the God of the sea, and 
of the dry land. The Lord on high is mightier 
than the noise of many waters; yea, than the 
mighty waves of the sea. O Lord God of hosts, 
who is a strong Lord like unto thee ? Thou 
rulest the raging of the sea: when the waves 
thereof arise, thou stillest them. 

You remember, I dare say, my dear children, 
how Jesus Christ was once with his disciples, in 
a small ship, crossing a lake, and that a very vio- 



60 HISTORY OF JONAH. 

lent storm overtook them. The ship was filled 
with water, and they were in great danger of be- 
ing drowned. Christ was in the hinder part of 
the ship, and asleep. His disciples awoke him, 
and cried out ; Master, carest tJiou not, that we 
perish ? And he arose and rebuked the ivind, and 
said unto the sea, Peace, he still. And the wind 
ceased, and there was a great calm. And he said 
unto them, Why are ye so fearful ? how is it, that 
ye have no faith ? And they feared exceedingly y 
and said one to another^ What manner of man is 
this, that even the wind and the sea obey him 1 

The mariners, too, who had cast Jonah into 
the sea, and who saw the winds and the waves 
immediately cease from raging, feared exceed- 
ingly. They feared the true God, who thus 
showed his almighty power, and used it for their 
deliverance. They knew, by all that they had 
seen, that He must be the true God, and that the 
gods which they had worshipped, were false gods, 
and could never render them any aid. They 
felt so thankful to God for rescuing them from 
death, and so much resolved to believe in Him, 
and to worship Him in future, that they made a 
vow, (or very solemn promise,) to do this ; and 
either while they were in the ship, or as soon as 
they landed on the shore, — * they offered a sac- 
rifice unto the Lord.* 



HISTORY GP JONAH. 61 

These men, who had so lately been ignorant 
idolaters, and who had learned but a very little 
about the true God, you see, were ready to 
thank Him for his goodness to them, and to re- 
solve to worship and serve Him, in future. They 
were convinced, by what they had seen, and by 
what a prophet had told them, that there was 
but one only, living and true God, They be- 
lieved that He was the Creator and Preserver of 
all things ; and also that He was a just God: 
who would not suffer sin to go unpunished. 
They feared Him. They resolved to love and 
obey Him. 

My dear children, how much more you know 
about God than these poor mariners did. They 
had no Bible. You have one; and you have 
kind parents and teachers, to help you to read 
it, and understand[the truths which it contains. 
They had no instruction about God, excepting the 
few words which Jonah told them. You have a 
great deal of instruction about God. I hope 
your parents teach you at honie ; and then you 
can go to the Sabbath-school and to church, and 
so learn a great deal, every week, about God, 
and his Son our Saviour ; and what you must 
do, that you may grow up to be useful and hap- 
py in this world, and happy forever in the worl4 
which is to come. 
5^ 



63 HISTORY GF JONAIIc 

God has done you a great deal of good. He 
has taken care of you, by day and by night, ever 
since you were born. When you have been 
sick, He has healed you. He has kept you from 
a great many dangers, and from death. He has 
given you food, and clothes, and a comfortable 
house to live in, and kind parents and friends. 
Or, if any of you have lost your parents, and are 
fatherless and motherless children; think how 
God has shown himself as a Father to you, and 
has raised up friends to take care of you. If 
you were to try to count all the various ways in 
which God has been good and kind to you, it 
would take you as long as )^ou have lived to do 
it. You might as well try to count the sands on 
the sea shore, to see how many there are. 

God has done a great deal more for you than 
He did for the poor mariners. Do you feel very 
thankful to Him for it? Do you feel as thank- 
fur to Him as they did? Do you feel more 
thanlcfal? You ought to do so; and you 
should show your thankfulness, as they did, by 
fearing God ; — by fearing to sin against him ; — 
by dreading his displeasure more than any other 
evil which can happen to you. You should 
show your thankfulness too, hy worshipping God, 
The mariners offered up a sacrifice to God, per- 
haps a lamb, for this was the animal very often 
offered up in sacrifice = 



HISTORY OF 10NA». 63 

People ill former times, you know, offered up 
sacrifices, as a part of their worship. God com- 
manded the Jews to do it, to teach them, that 
He had a right to everything which they owned> 
and to require them to give it to Him whenever 
He chose to demand it. 

But there was another, more impartant reasori 
why God commanded the Jews to offer up sac- 
rifices. It was to show them, by thus taking 
away the lives of animals, that their own lives 
might justly be taken away, on account of their 
sins ; and that it was owing to the great mercy 
of God, that they were spared, and the animal 
slain in their stead. This was to enable them 
to understand, and that they might continually 
keep in mind, — that there must be a still greater 
sacrifice offered up, to show God's terrible dis- 
pleasure against sin, and that He might forgive 
every sinner wha is truly sorry for his sins, and 
trusts in the Lord Jesus Christ to save him. It 
was Jesus Christ, you know, who offered up 
himself as this great sacrifice for sin, and poured 
out his own precious blood on the cross, that bt/ 
thus dying himself, he might save from the eter- 
nal death of the soul, all who put their trust in 
Him. 

Every lamb, and every animal, that was offer- 
ed up in sacrifice by the Jews had a meaning m 



64 HISTORY OF JONAH, 

its death. It showed that, without the shedding 
of blood there could he no forgiveness of sin. It 
pointed to a better, and more costly sacrifice, 
that was yet to be made ; — to the Son of God 
himself, — the Lamb of God, as He is called in 
the Bible, who takeih aicay the sins of the tvorld. 
For there is no sinner in the whole world, no 
matter how many and how great his sins have 
been, but who can have all his sins forgiven, and 
have God for his eternal friend, if he will truly 
repent of his sins and trust, for pardon and sal- 
vation, in Jesus Christ alone. 

Sacrifices now are all done away. They are 
no longer needed. The great sacrifice, which 
they all were designed to represent, (or be like,) 
has been made. One such sacrifice is enough. 
It is worth more than thousands, or millions, of 
lambs, or the costliest animals that can be 
found. 

You are not required, as the Jews were, or as 
the poor mariners did, to worship God by offer- 
ing up sacrifices. He only asks you to give 
Him your heart, to love Him with your whole 
soul, and strength, and mind, — and to show that 
you do thus love Him, by obeying the other 
command which He has given you, to love your 
neighbor as yourselves ; to do to others, as you 
would have others do to you, and to try, by all 



HISTQRY OF JONAH, 65 

th means in your power, to make others ^ood 
and happy, both in this and the future world. 

Do you feel, my dear children, that you truly 
deserve the displeasure, and just punishment, of 
God, because you have so often, and so greatly, 
sinned against Him? Do you feel, that it is 
only on account of the great sacrifice which 
was once offered up for sinners, w^hen the Son of 
God died on the cross, that your sins can be for- 
given by God, and your souls saved from eternal 
death? Do you feel truly sorry for all your 
sins; and do you trust in Jesus Christ alone, to 
deliver you from the punishment that your sins 
deserve? Do you feel resolved to endeavor, 
hereafter, to love and to obey God, and to pray 
to Him, daily, for His Holy Spirit, that you may 
be enabled to do this ? 

Unless you have feelings, and thoughts, like 
these, how can you hope to obtain the pardon of 
your sins, and the love and favor of God? Un- 
less you thus repent, and trust in Christ, and 
love and obey God, you will feel His displeasure 
in a much more dreadful way, than the mariners 
did, when the storm was raging around them, 
and threatening them with immediate destruc- 
tion ; yes, in a much more dreadful way, than 
even Jonah didy when he was cast headlong into 
the sea. 



66 HISTORY OF JONAH. 

A more terrible storm will yet overtake those 
who continue in sin, without any repentance for 
it, and without any looking to God, through 
Christ, for pardon and deliverance. For we 
read so in the Bible ; and God would not tell us 
so, if it was not true, and if it was not very im- 
portant that we should know it, — that we may 
now, in good season, endeavor to avoid the 
danger. 

* God is angry with the wicked every day. 
The wrath of God is revealed from heaven 
against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of 
men.' * The Lord Jesus shall be revealed from 
heaven, with his mighty angels, inflaming fire, 
taking vengeance on them that knoiv not God, 
and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus 
Christ; who shall be punished with everlasting 
destruction from the presence of the Lord, and 
from the glory of his power J 

In that great and dreadful day, when Christ 
shall thus come to judge you, and me, and all 
mankind ; and when the wicked will be so afraid 
to meet him, that they will cry out to the moun- 
tains and rocks to fall on them, and to hide them 
from the face of Him, that sitteth on the throne, 
andfrotn the wrath of the Ijamb ; — in that great 
and dreadful day, — how will you feel, my dear 
children, if you have not prepared to meet it, by 



HISTORY OF JONAH. 67 

a sincere repentance for sin, and by a hearty 
faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. 

On the other hand, if you are thus prepared 
to meet it, you will have no fear. You will look 
up with joy to see and meet your Saviour. The 
look of Jesus Christ towards you, will be full of 
love. It will be like the kind and affectionate 
look of your father or mother, when they have 
clasped you in their arms, and pressed you to 
their bosom. His voice will be sweeter than the 
most delightful music to your soul. Your joy 
will be greater than you can now conceive, when 
you hear Him inviting you to go and be with 
Him forever. And you will go and he with Him 
forever ; and with all the holy angels ; and with 
all v.^ho have been redeemed by his blood ; to 
enjoy a kind of happiness of which you can now 
have scarcely any thought. You cannot think, 
how great it will be. You will be happy in 
knowing more and more about the greatness and 
goodness of God, and his Son, Jesus Christ; in 
worshipping, loving, and serving them ; and in 
helping to make all around you happy. And 
you will thus have the highest enjoyment, in 
seeing the endless progress of all around you, 
as well as yourself, in knowledge, in holiness, 
and in happiness. 

Think of these things, my dear children. 



68 HISTOflY OF JONAH. 

All that the poor mariners felt and did, when 
God appeared for their deliverance, is but small 
indeed, in comparison with the greater gratitude, 
and love, and obedience, which you should feel 
and show, towards God, and towards his Son, 
your Saviour. For consider how much they 
have done for you, both for your comfort in this 
world, and for your eternal happiness in the 
next. 



CHAPTER VII. 

God is very merciful to the penitent. He 
designed to save Jonah, Why God ajjlicts 
us. A great Jish i)repared by God, to 
swallow Jonah. Objections to this answered. 
Miracles explained. 

' Seek ye the Lord ivhile He may be found, call 
ye upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked 
forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his 
thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, 
and he will have mercy upon him; and to our 
God, for he will abundantly pardon.^ 

* I^or my thoughts are not your thoughts, nei' 
iher are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. 
For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so 



HISTORY OF JONAH. 69 

are my ways higher than your ivays, and my 
thoughts than your thoughts.^ 

Jonah thought, while the mariners were cast- 
ing- him into the sea, that his death was certain. 
He had no hope of escaping it. But God 
thought differently, as we read in the verses 
from the Bible which I have placed at the begin- 
ning of this chapter. 

God is very ready to have mercy on those who 
are sorry that they have offended Him ; who 
truly repent of their sins, and turn to Him with 
all their hearts, resolving to sin no more. Jonah 
felt so, and God determined to spare his life. 
So that we may learn from this^ that God will 
have mercy on those also, and pardon their sins, 
and save them, w^ho truly repent of their sins, 
and turn unto God in the way which he has 
pointed out ; — by faith in His Son, the Lord 
and Saviour, Jesus Christ. He may not always 
save such persons from the dangers to which, 
like Jonah, they are exposed. He sometimes 
has good reasons for their enduring trouble, 
and pain, and even suffering death itself He 
may see that this is best for them on the whole. 
But, then. He will make all their troubles, and 
pains, and death at last, do them good, and pre- 
pare them for that better world where suffering 
is known no more. If He does not think it best 
6 



70 HISTORY OF JONAH. 

to save them, as He did Jonah, from the death 
of the body. He will certainly save them from 
the death of the soul ; — and then the death of 
the body is a small matter indeed. 

Jonah thought he should soon be drowned in 
the deep waters. He thought, that God had 
determined never again to send him to Nineveh. 
He felt that he was, indeed, very unworthy of 
going there in the service of God ; — a service, 
from which he had endeavored to flee away, in 
so shameful and wicked a manner. 

But, here again, God's thoughts were not like 
the thoughts of Jonah. For God intended to 
save his life, for the very purpose of sending him 
again to Nineveh, as you will see in a following 
chapter. And it was by the chastisements and 
trials which God called Jonah to endure, that 
He meant to bring him into that state of mind, 
which would prepare him the better to preach to 
the wicked people in Nineveh. When God first 
told Jonah to go there, he w^as not in a right 
state of mind. He did not think and feel as he 
ought. But after his chastisements and trials, 
which God intended for this very purpose, he 
became penitent and humble. He felt how 
weak and helpless he was. He trusted in God 
for strength and protection. He knew, that 
God who had delivered him from being drowned 



HISTORY OF JONAH. 71 

in the sea, was able to deliver him from any 
Other danger, however great and terrible it might 
be. He felt that God had been very merciful to 
him, and that he ought to be willing to go to any 
place to which God might direct him, and to do 
anything which God might command him. It 
was thus, that God thought to preserve Jonah, 
and to prepare him again to be sent to Nineveh, 
and to preach to its inhabitants. 

God does not take pleasure in afflicting you, 
my dear children. When He afflicts you, He 
does it, to lead you to feel that you deserve it 
all, and a great deal more, on account of your 
sins. He does it to lead you to be humble 
before God, and to repent and look to Christ to 
save you. He does it, to lead you to feel your 
dependence on God alone for strength and 
deliverance. He does it, to lead you to feel 
that every thing on earth is but of very little 
value, and that to keep near to God, and enjoy 
His blessing and love, is worth more than all 
the world ; — that it is the only true good for 
which you should seek. 

The afflictions and trials of Jonah made him 
feel so : do yours make you feel so ? 

I suppose, you have thought already, how it 
was that God preserved Jonah after the mariners 
had cast him into the sea. You knew this part 



72 HISTORY OP JONAH. 

of the story before, and that God had prepared a 
great fish to swallow up Jonah. Yes ; this fish 
swallowed him up, just as soon as he was 
thrown, over the side of the ship, into the 
water. 

Our Saviour, in speaking of Jonah, as you 
may read, in the twelfth chapter of Matthew, at 
the fortieth verse, calls this fish, a whale. We 
do not know, that it was exactly like the whales 
that live now. It might have been a good deal 
like them, and yet, in some things different. 

Some people who wish to find fault with the 
Bible, say, that the fish could not have swallow- 
ed Jonah, because the whales v/hich are caught, 
at the present day, have not throats large enough 
to swallow a man. But how can we know how 
large the whales were, at the time when Jonah 
lived. The one that swallowed him, might have 
been very large indeed. Horses are of a great 
many different sizes, and yet they are all called 
by the same name. And, as I have said before, 
it might not have been exactly like the whales 
that live now, or that lived at our Saviour's time. 
It might have even been a kind of fish that was 
not then known, and for which there was no 
name ; but, being a good deal like a whale, our 
Saviour might very properly call it by that name. 
Besides, if God had thought best to do it, (and 



HiStORY OF JONAtt. /d 

tie has not told us whether He did, or did not,) 
He might have very easily created a great whale^ 
on purpose to swallow up Jonah, and with a 
throat large enough to do it. 

You may hear other objections made, my 
dear children, against some things of which we 
read in the Bible. You may hear foolish and 
wicked people laugh about them, and say, that 
they never could have happened ; and that, be- 
cause the Bible says they did happen/ the Bible 
contains some falsehoods^ and that, therefore, we 
cannot believe anything which it contains. 

Do not let what such people say, trouble you 
at all, or lead you to think of the Bible as they 
do. It is almost always the case that the per- 
sons who make these objections, have read and 
studied the Bible very little indeed ; perhaps, 
not at all. Ask them, how often they have read 
it through, and whether they have prayed hura^ 
bly and earnestly to God to enable them to 
understand it * and see what they will answer* 
Ask them, if they think what it commands is 
good and right, and whether they love to obey 
it, so far as they can understand it. Ask them, 
if they have read and studied our Saviour's 
sermon on the mount, and whether there are 
any parts of it against which they, or anybody 
elsCj can make any objections* Ask them, if* 
6* 



?4 HISTORY OF JONAH. 

they feel willing to obey all that Christ teaches 
and commands, in this sermon on the mount, 
and whether they do not think, that they and all 
mankind would be a great deal better and hap- 
pier, if they did study it and obey it. Ask 
them, if they have ever read any of those books, 
of which there are a great many in different 
libraries, that learned, and wise, and good men, 
have written to explain the very difficulties, 
which they think they find in the Bible. Ask 
them, if they know that, in these books, the very 
objections that they make, with so much noise 
and confidence, against some things in the Bible, 
have been answered again and again, — en- 
tirely answered, so that every honest and fair 
mind must see that they are no objections at 
all. 

In preparing the whale, or great fish, to swal- 
low up Jonah, God performed a miracle. — What 
is a miracle ? I will try to tell you. Men and wo- 
men, boys and girls, do a great many things which 
they can do again, and which others can be told 
how to do, if they have not already done them. 
They can do these things, without being taught by 
God, how to do them, or without being helped di- 
rectly by Him, in doing them. They either find out 
themselves, how to do them, or have been taught 
by others ; and they do them with that power of 



HISTORY OF JONAH. 75 

mind, and of body which God has given us 
the means of acquiring. This power of mind 
and of body which is common to men, in all 
countries, and at all times, we call the natural 
power of men. When we see a large house, we 
say that it was built by the natural power of men. 
But if we should be told that one man, in one 
day, had built a large house, we know that he 
could not have done it, by his own, natural pow- 
er, but, that if he did indeed do it, God must 
have given him a very great deal of power at the 
time, and aided him directly in doing it. We 
should say, that his power in doing it was super' 
natural. 

A man walks four miles in one hour. That 
is done, by his natural power. Jesus Christ 
walked on the water. That was not done by the 
natural power of his body. It was done by a 
power like God's. It was supernatural. 

A physician gives medicine to a very sick per- 
son, who is near to death, and restores him to 
health and strength. It is done by the skill of 
the physician and the power of the medicine. It 
is done naturally. Other physicians might have 
done it, with the same kind of medicine. But 
when Christ raised Lazarus from the dead, He 
only spake to him, and commanded him to come 
forth from the tomb. It was done supernatural" 



76 History of jonai!. 

Zy. Men cannot call dead persons to life, by 
speaking to them. 

Flowers and trees grow ; they bear blossoms 
and fruit ; they grow old, and decay, and dic^ 
They do all this naturally. It is common, all 
over the world, for flowers and trees to do so. — 
The wind blows, sometimes in one direction, and 
sometimes in another ; the rain, and hail, anc} 
snow, fall from the clouds; the lightnings 
flash, and the thunder rolls. All this happens^ 
naturally. It has happened so, in a great many, 
different parts of the world, and at a great manyj 
different times. — The sun rises and sets; the 
moon comes at stated times and rises and sets 
also ; the stars appear in the sky, and move from 
east to west. All this happens, naturally. It 
has happened again and again, in all parts of the 
World, and will continue to happen so. 

It is God, indeed, who made men, and women, 
and children, and gave them minds capable of 
finding out how to do many curious and wonder* 
ful things, and gave them bodies capable of ac-* 
quiring a great deal of strength. It is God, who 
makes the flowers and trees grow, who causes 
the wind, the rain, the hail, and snow, — the 
lightning and the thunder ; who makes the sun 
and moon and stars appear, and rise and set* 
How he does this, we do not know. We see, that 



HISTORY OF JONAH. 77 

He does it, for years and years, and alike in dif- 
ferent places, at different times ; or in other 
words, that he does it, regularly and uniformly. 
We say that it is all natural ; that it happens ac- 
cording to the laws of Nature, which means the 
same thing as to say that, God does it regularly 
and uniformly. 

God has done many things, differently from all 
this ; not in a natural way, but in a supernatural 
way. He has also enabled some men to do 
things, not in a natural, but in a supernatural, 
manner. And such things, done either by God 
himself or by men with power received directly 
from God, are called miracles. 

God caused a pillar of a cloud by day, and of 
fire by night to go before the Israelites, and show 
them the way. This was a miracle. Moses 
smote the rock in the wilderness, and water flowed 
from it, to give the people and their cattle, drink. 
This was a miracle. While the Israelites were 
passing over the river Jordan, God caused the 
waters which came down from above, to stand 
still, and to rise up in a heap, so that all the peo- 
ple passed over on dry ground. Joshua spake to 
the sun and to the moon, and commanded them 
to stand still, and they did so. These were mira- 
cles. 

Many more miracles are mentioned in the Bi- 



78 HISTORY OF JONAH. 

ble ; and you reniember, how many our Saviour 
performed, and how much kindness he showed 
in performing them. 

So it was a miracle, when the great fish swal- 
lowed up Jonah. God either created the fish on 
purpose to swallow him up ; or else caused some 
fish, already living in the sea, to be near the 
, ship, at the very moment that Jonah was thrown 
overboard, so as to swallow him, and have him re- 
main alive, inside of the fish, three days, and 
three nights. This was, indeed, a miracle, and 
a very wonderful one. It is told us in the Bible, 
to show us the great wisdom and power of God ; 
how He could find out a way to save Jonah, when 
his death appeared certain, and thus prepare him 
the better, to do the will of God, and still to go- 
to the city of Nineveh, and preach to its wicked 
inhabitantSr 



HISTORY OF JONAH. 79 



CHAPTER VIIL 



Jonah swallowed by the fish. He prays to God, 
Duty and nature of prayer^ in time of danger. 
Explanation of Jonah^s prayer. Afflictions 
are very distressing when they are the marks of 
God's displeasure against our sins. 

What must have been the horror of Jonah, 
when he saw the great fish, close by the side of 
the ship, with his vast mouth wide open, ready to 
swallow him up. He must, indeed, have thought 
that his destruction was both certain and imme- 
diate. How would you feel, my dear children, 
to be in the same danger of being swallowed by 
a great fish ? Some persons, at the present day, 
are caught by a fish, called a Shark, and eatsn 
up by it. It must be a very dreadful kind of 
death, 

Jonah thought, that he was about to suffer the 
same dreadful kind of death, and to be eaten 
alive by the fish. In his great distress and fright, 
he cried unto the Lord, as he was entering the 
mouth of the fish ; and continued to cry unto 
Him, after the fish had quite swallowed him up. 
He knew that nothing was too great or difBcult 



80 HISTORY OP JONAH. 

for God to do. He still hoped, that he might be 
preserved, and was somewhat encouraged thus 
to hope, because he found, that the fish had not 
eaten him, and that he was still alive, although he 
was inside of the fish. He prayed unto God ; 
and, afterwards, he wrote down the prayer which 
he offered up, while inside of the fish, and it is 
the same which we read in the Bible. It is a 
very excellent prayer, and I will endeavor to ex- 
plain it to you. For you may be in great trou- 
ble and distress, my dear children, and feel as 
Jonah did, that you can receive help from God 
alone, and that unless He does help you imme- 
diately, your destruction is certain. If any one 
of you should ever be in such trouble and distress, 
be sure to pray to God most earnestly. Cast 
yourselves into His hands. Feel willing to have 
Him do with with you, as He thinks best. Hope 
that He may deliver you. 

Remember that He is very merciful, and that 
He has almighty power. Think how He saved 
Jonah. Cry to Him as Jonah did. Put all your 
trust for safety in Him alone. All who love God, 
do so. If you truly love God, you will do so. 

But we will attend now to Jonah's prayer. 
He said ; * I cried by reason of mine affliction 
unto the Lord, and He heard me ; out of the 
belly of hell, cried I, and thou heardest ray 
voice.' 



HISTORY OF JONAH. 81 

It was the great affliction iu which Jonah was, 
that made him cry unto the Lord. That was 
the reason of his crying; and a good reason, 
indeed, it was. It is in the time of affliction, of 
distress and danger, that we should pray earnest- 
ly to God, that He would deliver us : if to do so, 
is consistent with His will. Above all, we 
should pray, that He would give us peace of 
mind, by leading us to think and to feel, that He 
does all things well; and that He will, at last, 
deliver us from the greatest of all evils, by saving 
our souls, even if our bodies must die. 

God, too, has invited us thus to call upon 
Him, in times of affliction and danger. He has 
promised to hear the prayers of his own children, 
who come unto Him, truly sorry for their sins, 
and trusting in Christ as their Saviour, and as 
the only way, in which they can hope to receive 
any good thing from God. The eye of the Lord 
is upon them that fear Him, upon them that 
hope in his mercy ; to deliver their soul from 
death, and to keep them alive in famine. Our 
soiil loaiteth for the Lord; He is our help and 
our shield. The j^ighteous cry, and the Lord 
heareth, and deliver eth them out of all their 
troubles. The Lord is nigh unto them that are 
of a broken heart ; and saveth such as be of a 
contrite spirit. Many are the afflictions of the 
7 



82 HISTORY OF JONAH. 

rigliteoxts^ hut tlie Lord deliverdli Jiim out of 
them all. Call upon me, in the day of trouble; 
I will deliver thee. 

You must not think fro-m tliis, my dear chil- 
dren, that, if you pray to Gxl in affliction, ever 
so sincerely and earnestly, He will do, just what 
you may wish to have Him do, or that He will 
answer your prayers, just as you^ may wish to 
have Him answer them. You should consider 
even while you are praying for deliverance, 
(which it is quite proper for you to do,) that still 
God may have some other way of deliverance 
than the one you are thiiiking of. You should 
remember, that He may not see it best to grant 
you His aid at the very time that you ask for it, 
and that it may be for some good, either to 
yourselves or to others, that you should remain 
longer in affliction and danger. You should 
feel, too, that your deliverance, I mean the 
deliverance of your body, from danger, and 
suffering, and even from death itself, may not be 
for the best. You should feel, that your true 
deliverance may be, the deliverance of your soul 
from sin and eternal death , and that this deliver- 
ance can take place, only by your continuing 
longer in affliction, and danger, and suffering ; 
or, indeed, only by the death of the body. 

If Jonah had not been overtaken by the storm, 



HISTORY OP JONAH. 83 

^nd brought into great distress and danger, and 
very near to death itself; if the wind had con- 
tinued fair, and the weather pleasant, and he 
had arrived safely in Tarshish ; he might have 
kept on in his wickedness, and wandered farther 
and farther from God, and his soul been lost 
forever. 

God knew that his only true deliverance, — 
the deliverance of his soul from eternal death, — 
could not take place, without a great change in 
his feelings. He knew that Jonah could not 
be admitted into heaven, while he remained in 
such a state of wicked disobedience to the com- 
mands of God. He knew that he must be 
brought to feel truly penitent for his sins, and be 
willing to love and obey God. He knew that 
Jonah would not be brought to think and to feel 
so, if he was permitted to go to Tarshish. God, 
therefore, sent the storm, and the distress, and 
the terrible (hnger, in mercy to Jonah, and that 
he might be delivered from the worst of all evils, 
the eternal death of his soul. 

Think of Jonah, my young friends, when you 
are in affliction and danger, and when you are 
praying for deliverance; which I still tell you it 
is perfectly light to do, in submission to the will 
of God^ God mai/ answer your prayers, as He 
did that of Jonah, by a speedy deliverance. But 



84 HISTORY OF JONAH. 

He may not think it best to do so. He may 
answer it in some other way. He may put off 
answering it for a long time. He may not 
answer it at all, by delivering your body from 
suffering, and danger, and death. He may 
answer it, only by saving your soul from eternal 
death ; — and, throughout eternity, you will praise 
and bless Him for this greatest of all deliver- 
ances. 

Jonah speaks of God's hearing him, out of 
the hclly of hell. What does this mean ? 

It means, that the dark and dismal place, 
inside of the fish, in which Jonah was, — was in 
some respects, like the place in the other world 
to which the souls of the wicked go, after death. 
That place is dismal indeed. All there is 
sorrow and suffering. Sin and remorse are there. 
Guilt and shame are there. Envy and revenge 
are there. Hatred and malice are there. They 
are in the breasts of all its miserable inhabitants. 
No one has any love to God, or to others. All 
are opposed to God ; all are opposed to others. 
All are wretched ; and what makes their wretch- 
edness the more dreadful, is, that they have no 
hope of escape from their prison house of des- 
pair. 

Jonah felt, that he was shut up in a prison 
somewhat like this ; and that he was in it, on 



HISTORY OF JONAH. 85 

account of his great wickedness, suffering the 
just displeasure of an offended God. He must 
have been in great distress and anxiety ; not 
knowing how long it would be before he would 
die, and, indeed, fearing death every moment. 
In this situation, he cried unto God, and God 
heard his voice. 

* For thou hadst cast me into the deep, in 
the midst of the seas ; and the floods compassed 
me about; all thy billows and thy waves passed 
over me.'' 

It was the mariners who cast Jonah into the 
sea ; but he knew that they did it, because God 
had so directed that it should happen. God 
caused the storm to arise, which alarmed the 
mariners so much, and led them to cast lots, 
God caused the lot to fall upon Jonah, who was 
led by it to confesss his guilt; and I think, that, 
in some way, God directed Jonah to tell the 
mariners to cast him into the sea, that they 
might be saved. So that, knowing that God 
directed all these thino^s, Jonah miorht well 
say, — * thou hadst cast me into the deep, in the 
midst of the seas.' 

*A11 thy billows and thy waves passed over 
me.'— David used words like these, in the forty- 
second Psalm, where he says, that his soul was 
cast down and disquieted within him. Lika 
7* 



86 HISTORY OF JONAH. 

Jonah, he was in great distress. Like Jonah, 
he prayed to God, and tru'^ted in Him, and was 
able to say to his soul, — Hope thou in God; for 
I shall yet praise Him, 7vho is the health of my 
countenance, and my God 

Jonah , probably had seen these words of 
David, and remembered them as well suited to 
his situation. David used them figuratively ; 
that is, he meant to say, that God had brought 
troubles upon him, as great and dreadful as the 
troubles of mariners are, at sea, when real bil- 
lows and waves roll over them. Jonah felt, that 
God had caused the real billows and waves of 
the sea to roll over him, and that they were in- 
tended, by their noise and fury, to show him the 
very great displeasure of God against him, as if 
ready, like the waves, to overwhelm and bury 
him in utter destruction. 

This it is, my dear children, that makes some 
troubles which happen to us so distressing, and 
some dangers which threaten us so terrible. If 
we have reason, as Jonah did, to consider them, 
as showing us the great displeasure of God 
against us, for our sins ; — then they are dis- 
tressing and terrible, indeed. Nothing is more 
terrible than the displeasure of God against sin. 
You know how it was shown against the wick- 
ed, in their destruction by the deluge, and 



HISTORY OF JONAH. 87 

against the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah 
by fire sent down from heaven, bringing ruin 
upon them and their cities. It is a fearful 
things for sinners, to fall into the hands of the 
living God, 

If trouble, and distress, and danger, overtake 
us, on account of our sins ; if, in this way, we 
have to say, as David and Jonah did, all thy bil- 
lows and thy waves 'pass over me, let us humble 
ourselves before God. Let us confess our guilt; 
acknowledging the justice of our punishment, 
beseeching God to forgive us ; and crying unto 
Him for mercy and deliverance. 



HISTORY OF JONAH. 



CHAPTER IX. 



Jonah almost in despair. Yd he hopes in the 
mercy of God, He looks towards the temple 
of (tod^ at Jerusalem. Do we love the house 
of God ? God can deliver from the greatest 
danger. God is very kind to listen to our 
prayers. 

While crying' unto tlie Lord, Jonah seems to 
have been in great distress of niind. 'Then [ 
said, I am cast out of thy sight; yet I will look 
again toward thy holy temple. The waters com- 
passed me about even to the soul : the depth closed 
me round about, the weeds were wrapped about 
my head. I went down to the bottoms of the 
mountains ; the earth with her bars was about 
me forever.' 

It seemed to Jonah as if God had determined 
to forsake him entirely and not even to look on 
him again with any favoi or compassion : just as 
a father sometimes says to an ungrateful and 
wicked child ; * Go out of my sight ; — I can have 
you with me no longer ; I must leave you to go 
on in the way of sin and ruin, which you have 
chosen, — since you will not treat me with any 
respect or obedience.' 



HISTORY OF JONAH. 89 

And God sometimes leaves sinners to go on in 
their wickedness, after He finds that they will give 
no regard to his advice and warnings. He casts 
them out of his sight. He abandons them to the 
destruction which they themselves have chosen. 
They will be forever banished from his presence in 
heaven, never to behold his goodness and glory 
there ; and never to enjoy the holiness and happi- 
ness of those who are to spend a blissful eternity 
in his love and service. Think, my dear children, 
what a dreadful evil it is to be cast out forever from 
the presence of God, into outer darkness, far, far 
from the light, and peace, and joys of heaven ! 
Faith in Christ ivill save you from such a dread- 
ful evil. Go to Him. Give your hearts to Him. 
Trust in Him. Love Him. Obey Him, — with- 
out delay, — and you will be safe. 

Jonah still dared to hope in the mercy of God, 
— to hope a little, though he did it with fear and 
trembling. ' Yet I will look again toward thy 
holy temple. As if he had said, I will not forget 
thy holy temple in my own land, in which I have 
so often worshipped thee. I will think of it, and 
the recollection shall save me from falling into 
utter despair. For have I not, in times past, 
there prayed unto thee, with some degree of sin- 
cerity and love ? Have I not there taken delight 
in singing thy praises, and in listening to the in- 
structions of thy word ? Have I not there, in 



90 HISTORY OP JONAH. 

obedience to thy commands, offered up my sac- 
rifices ? Have I not felt, as the blood of the vic- 
tim was poured out, that my own life was forfeit- 
ed by sin, and that I had no hope of forgiveness 
but in thy mercy, through the Saviour whom 
thou hast promised ; and who, when He comes, 
shall redeem his people from their sins ? Have 
I not there had my thoughts and my affections 
raised from the things of this world to thyself, 
and to heaven, the habitation of thy holiness and 
thy glory ? Hast thou not there heard my 
prayers, and accepted the sacrifice of a broken 
and contrite hearty which I offered up, as the 
better sacrifice that thou requirest ? Hast thou 
not there shed down thy Holy Spirit upon my 
soul, and given me the tokens of thy lo\e? 

* And may I not hope, that I was then one of 
thy own children, and that [ am still one ; alas ! 
a disobedient and ungrateful child, but not quite 
forsaken of my Heavenly Father ? For unto thee 
do I long to return, deeply humble for my ^ins, 
sorrowing for them, and imploring thy mercy. 
I would look unto thee ; I would look again to- 
ward thy holy temple, hoping, if my life is spar- 
ed, again to visit its sacred walls, and there to 
offer before thee the sacrifice of a grateful heart, 
the tribute of praise and thanksgiving, for all thy 
goodness towards me/ 



niSTORY OF JONAH. 91 

Some such thoughts an^l feelings probably 
pis?;ed throiigli the mind v^f Jonah, and glowed 
within his breast. And do yon, my dear chil- 
dren, think of tlie honse of God, where you go on 
the Sabbath, with a pleasant and grateful remem- 
brance? God is very kind in giving you the 
Sabbath, and in permitting you to go to the place 
where He is worshipped. Do you love to go 
there? How do you feel, while you are ther(^? 
Do you unite in the prayers that are offered up? 
Do you sing in your hearts, when Gjd is praised 
in the psalms and hymns? Do you attend to 
His w^ord while it is read ; and to his minister 
while he is speaking to you, and telling you what 
God requires of you, and what He promises to do 
for you, if you will love and obey Him ? Do 
you love to be there ; and can you say, as the 
Psalmist did ; — T was glad when they said unto 
me let us go into the house of the Lord, How 
amiable are thy tabernacles, O Lord of hosts I 
my soul longeth, yca^ even faint eth for the courts 
of the Lord; my heart and my flesh crieth out 
for the living God. I had rather be a door- 
keeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in 
the tents of wickedness. 

Remember, my dear children, one very im- 
portant and solemn truth. If you do not love to 
worship God in his temple, here on earth, you 



93 HISTORY OF JONAH. 

will not love to worship Him in his temple above, 
in heaven, and cannot be admitted there to join 
the praises, and enjoy the happiness, of those who 
will love and serve Him, throughout eternity. 
What you love most^ in this icorld, you will love 
most ill the next. If you love God most, in this 
world, you will love Him most in the next, and 
this love will be fully satisfied in seeing Him ; in 
admiring Him ; in enjoying His favor ; in wor- 
shipping Him ; and in serving Him. 

If you love other things besides God most, then 
you will love them most in the future world. You 
will love them and desire to have them. But this 
desire will not be gratified. It will be very 
strong, like your thirst for water when your lips 
are parched with a hot fever ; and your not hav- 
ing the things that you desire, will be a great 
deal more painful, than the sufferings of the sick 
man who cries and begs for water, to cool his 
burning tongue, but can get none. The things 
of this world will not go with you into the next. 
You will leave them all behind. But being all 
gone, you will long for them the more. You will 
long for them as your only good. But you will 
never see them again, and ungratified desires will 
be your greatest torment. 

Think of these things, my dear children, and 
lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, that 



HISTORY OF JONAH. ^ 93 

icliere your treasure is, there your heart may he 
also. 

Jonah felt most deeply that his only hope was 
in God, and in looking to Him, he trusted alone 
in his mercy for deliverance. How could any 
one possibly be in a more hopeless condition ? If 
God did not stretch out his almighty arm, and 
rescue Jonah ; whoy — what could afford him the 
least aid ? 

He was compassed about with the deep and 
dark waters, even to the soul. The thought of 
his danger made him feel, in his inmost soul, how 
great and terrible this danger was. There the 
great fish was, and he inside of it, down, down 
in the very depths of the sea. 

There are high hills and mountains, and deep 
vallies, at the bottom of the sea, just as there are 
on the land. The fish, with Jonah in it went 
down to the very lowest parts of these vallies ; to 
the bottoms, or feet, of these mountains ; — so that 
the depth closed round about him. The deep 
waters were all around him, and above him, fold- 
ing him up in dismal darkness. And, some- 
times, as he supposed going into the hollow cav- 
erns, at the foot of the mountains, a long, long 
distance, under huge, over-hanging rocks, with 
the sea-weeds which the fish swallowed, wrap- 
ped about his head ; — it seemed, indeed, as if he 
8 



94 HISTORY OF JONAH. 

was shut lip in the lowest prison*house of the 
earth, with strong bohs and bars, rendering all 
prospect of escape utteily hopeless. 

But God can save from the greatest dan^rer and 
can deliver, when there seems to be no way of 
escape. It was so with Jonah. For he says, 
' yet hast thou brought up my life from corrup- 
tion, O Lord my God. When my soul fainted 
within me I remember the Lord ; and my prayer 
came in unto thee, unto thine holy temple.' 

He might have thought, at this time, judging 
from the motion of the fish, that it was going hack 
again, out of the dark, dismal caverns, and was 
rising, once more, to the top of the water. This 
gave him some new hopes of deliverance, and 
that his life, thus brought up from corruption, — 
(from the grave, as it were, in which the body 
becomes corrupt, and moulders away,) — would 
be spared, and himself, in some way, be permit- 
ted to breathe thcj air, and see the light of heaven. 

Then, he remembered the Lord, although his 
soul fainted within him. Although he felt, in 
his inmost soul, as a person does who feels very 
sick and faint, that all strength and life were 
gone, and death approaching, still he thought of 
God. He thought of all his past goodness, and 
how often lie had delivered from danger and 
from destruction, those who put their trust in 



HISTORY OF JONAH. 95 

Him. Perhaps he thought of Daniel when he 
was cast into the fiery furnace, and how God 
preserved hitn ; and also of his wonderful deliver- 
ance, when he was thrown among the lions, in 
their den, and not one injured him at all. 

At this time, his prayer ascended to the hea- 
vens. It came in unto God, into his holy tem- 
ple ; — into the place where he is worshipped by 
the angels, and by the spirits of all the holy and 
happy, who have gone there from this world. God 
heard the prayer of Jonah, and was very soon to 
answer it. 

Think, my dear children, how kind God is, 
thus to listen to the prayers of such sinners as 
Jonah was, and as you, and I, and all persons 
arc. Think of God, who is in the highest hea- 
vens, in his vast and magnificent temple, seated 
on his '^hrone, and surrounded by thousands, and 
tens of thousands, of pure and holy beings, all of 
whom love and serve Him continually. There 
God is, on the throne of his glory, ruling over 
all the hosts of heaven, and ruling over all the 
worlds and creatures that He has made, — the al- 
mighty sovereign of the universe,-^King of kings 
and Lord of lords. And yet. He can bend down 
from his throne, and regard the prayer of the 
gmallest child that cries unto Him ! 

In all your troubles then, my dear children, go 



96 HISTORY OF JONAH. 

to God, as I have before told you, and pray unto 
Him. He is not so great a being, that He can- 
not attend to you. He hears the little birds, 
when they cry, because they are hungry, and 
He provides them with food. Not a sparrow 
dies, and falls to the ground, without his seeing 
it, and taking notice of it. He sees you, at all 
times, and knows what is best for you. Go to 
Him, as you would to a kind parent. Remem- 
ber, how He heard Jonah's prayer, and that He 
will hear yours also. 

But remember, that Jonah prayed from his 
heart. He thought and felt just as he spake. He 
was very sorry for his sins, and cast himself on 
the mercy of God, for forgiveness and safety. 
When you pray, my dear children, you should 
feel so. Beseech God to give you his Holy Spir- 
it, that you may feel so. And God has prom- 
ised to give his Holy Spirit to all who ask Him 
for it in truth, — who really desire to have it; 
that they may be led by it to repentance for all 
their sins ; — to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ : — - 
to love and obey God ; — and to love their fellow- 
men, and do them all the good in their power. 



HISTORY OP JONIH. 97 



CHAPTER X, 

Jfonah is happy^ in trusting in tJie true God. 
The idols of the heathen are lying vanities. 
Duty of sending the gospel to the heathen. 
Jonah vows a sacrifice of thanksgiving . How 
ought we to show our gratitude to God 1 

Jonah, as we have seen, began to have some 
liope, that his prayer would be heard and an- 
swered. His confidence in God is growing 
stronger and stronger. He knew that he could 
safely trust in God ; and he thought how foolish 
and wicked it was, to trust in any other being or 
thing for deliverance. He compared the true 
and living God, in whom he trusted, with the 
false gods, — the idols, — -whom the heathen wor- 
shipped, and to whom they looked for deliver- 
ance, in time of danger. He felt happy in 
knowing the true God, and wished that others 
might know Him also. ' They that observe ly- 
ing vanities,' said he, * forsake their own mercy.' 

A vain thing, or vanity, is something that is 
wholly useless, and worth nothing. A very hun- 
gry man would think it a vain thing, to have a 
few acorns placed before him, out of which to 
8* 



98 HISTORY OF JONAH. 

make a meal. They would be useless, to satisfy 
his hunger. They would be vanity. 

If a small straw should be thrown to a drown- 
ing man, that he might save himself by it, it 
would be worth nothing to him. It would be 
vanity. 

So the gods and idols of the heathen are vani- 
ties. They are useless, and worth nothing. They 
are lying vanities. They deceive those who 
look to them for help, just as persons who tell 
falsehoods, — who make promises and do not 
keep them, — deceive and disappoint others. 

Those who observe these false gods, these ly- 
ing vanities ; — who regard them with any feel- 
ings of respect ; — who worship them, and cry to 
them for deliverance in danger, or, at other 
times, for guidance and protection, ^ forsake 
their own mercy.' They forsake God, who alone 
can have mercy on them. He is merciful and 
gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mer- 
cy. He is the Father of mercies, and God of 
all comfort. He is rich in mercy. He is very 
'pitiful, and of tender mercy. Though He cause 
grief, yet will He have compassion, according 
to the multitude of his mercies. Like as a fa- 
ther pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth 
them that fear Him. 

The mariners, you recollect, at first, called 



HISTORY OF JONAH. 99 

upon their false gods, to save them from destruc- 
tion. But they found these gods to be lying 
vanities. They could afford no help whatever. 
And so it is with all the poor heathen, at the 
present day, who worship idols, and trust in 
them. They forsake their own mercy, — their 
own best good, the pardon of their sins, and the 
love and favor of the true God. They must be 
blind, indeed, not to see, that their idols are 
nothing but lying vanities, that they cannot hear 
their prayers, nor do anything for them. Ought 
we not, my dear children, to feel very sorry, that 
so many poor, ignorant, wicked heathen, in va- 
rious parts of the world, yet observe lying vani- 
ties, and forsake their own mercy 1 A few good 
missionaries have gone to teach them about the 
true God, and how they may be saved, by trust- 
ing in Jesus Christ. The Bible has been trans- 
lated into some of the languages which they 
speak, and been given to them. But thousands 
and millions of them, have never yet heard a 
missionary preach, or seen a Bible. Do you not 
pity them, my dear children 1 Will you not re- 
member them in your prayers ? Will you not try 
to do something for them ? — If people would only 
give more money ; — then, more missionaries, and 
more Bibles, could easily be sent to the heathen. 
And there is money enough among us, if persons 



100 HISTORY OF JONAH. 

were only willing to give it. We might have 
houses, and furniture, and clothes that cost less. 
We might, often, have plainer food, which would 
also be a great deal better for our health. We 
might thus give up many things that cost a good 
deal of money, and which we do not need for our 
comfort, and be able to save enough, at the end 
of the year, to give to those who will take it, and 
make a faithful use of it, in sending missionaries 
and Bibles to the heathen. 

Think of these things, my dear children, and 
think, too, of our Saviour's express command, 
which He gave to his disciples, and which we 
are bound to obey, if we hope tliat we are among 
the number of his disciples and friends. Just 
before He ascended to heaven. He said, — Go ye 
into all the world, and preach the gospel to every 
creature. We cannot all go, but we can send 
others. Are we not disobedient to the command 
of Christ, if we do not do it? What can you do? 
Can you save any money, — some that you liave 
thought perhaps of spending for what you really 
do not need, and which will do you no lasting 
good? And, can you not, also, earn some mon- 
ey, even if it is but a few cents, by doing some 
kind of work, for which your parents or fiiends 
will cheerfully pay you? l{, in these ways, you 
can give something to send missionaries and the 



HISTORY OF JONAH. 101 

Bible, to the poor heathen, you will be obeying 
the command of Jesus Christ, and doing good to 
your fellow-men. 

The money that you send may be enough to 
teach one little heathen boy, or girl, as old as 
you are, about God, and his son Jesus Christ ; 
and this little child may become a Christian, and 
be the means of teaching other persons, and of 
thus doing a great deal of good. Think of all 
that Christ did, that you might be saved • — how, 
for your sakes. He became poor, a man of sor- 
rows, and acquainted with grief, and poured out 
his blood, in the most agonizing death, on the 
cross ; and say, whether you ought not to do 
something, to make this precious Saviour known 
to those who are yet ignorant of Him ? 

And one thing more I wish you to think of, 
as you grow older ; if you do, indeed, hope that 
you are a true disciple and friend of Jesus Christ. 
If missionaries ought to go to teach the heathen, 
some persons must be willing to become mission- 
aries. Who ought to be thus willing? Every- 
body else hut you? But if every one thought 
that others ought to go, and not himself, then no 
one would go. All would be unwilling, while 
each would still think, that others ought to be 
willing ; for, otherwise no missionaries could be 
sent. 



102 HISTORY OP JONAH. 

Something may happen to lead you to think of 
being a missionary. If so, pray miieh to God^. 
to direct you what to do. Get the advice of 
your parents and friends, and if the way seems 
to be open for yo'ur going, — ^o ; — go in the 
strength of your Redeemer, and spend your lives 
in making Him known to the heathen. Be fdith-^ 
ful unto the death, in his service, and great will 
be your reward in heaven. 

If Jonah had been willing to. go and preach to 
the heathen who lived in Nineveh, and who ob- 
served lying vanities, and had forsaken their own 
mercy,— ^as God commanded him to do, — he 
would have felt a great deal happier than he did, 
and have escaped the trouble and distress that 
came upon him. But his afflictions, as we have 
seen, were bringing him back to God and his 
duty. He began to believe, that he should again 
find that mercy, — which like the poor heathen, 
he had forsaken, — his own, true mtrcy, in being 
forgiven of God, and restored to his favor and 
love. 

He now had a strong hope of deliverance ; 
and, in view of it, exclaimed ; * But I will sacri- 
fice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving ; I 
will pay that I have vowed. Salvation is of the 
Lord.' 

He seems to have thought his deliverance very 



HISTORY OF JONAH. 103 

near. 'Salvation is of the Lord.' The saving 
of my life from destruction, and, what is of infi- 
nitely more importance, the saving of my soul 
from eternal death, to which my late sins had 
fearfully exposed me, — is all owing to the mercy 
of God. I have not deserved it, at all .; indeed, 
I deserve something very dilferent from it-, — the 
just and terrible displeasure of God, — and yet 
how great is his forbearance and long-suffering 
towards me. How great is his goodness, in 
what I now dare to hope will soon be my deliv- 
erance from this horrible prison-house. * Salva- 
tion is of the Lord.' 

Thus rejoicing in the prospect of once more 
walking abroad on the earth, and in being per- 
mitted to revisit his own country, and enter 
again into the temple of the Lord, Jonah resolves 
in that holy place^ to offer \\\s> sacrifice of thanks- 
giving^ and to praise God for his deliverance. 
He had already vowed^ (or made a very solemn 
promise,) to do this, and he intended to pay what 
he had vowed, — to fulfil his promise, — to do ex- 
actly as he had said he would. 

In the seventh chapter of Leviticus, beginning 
at the eleventh verse, you can read about the sac- 
rifice of thanksgiving which the Israelites made 
unto God, when they wished to show their grati- 
tude for his mercies. 



104 HISTORY OF JONAH. 

Such a sacrifice Jonah vowed to make ; and 
while making it, he intended to declare aloud 
the goodness of God, with the voice of thanks- 
giving ; probably, in some sacred psalm of praise, 
singing of the mercies of the Lord, and inviting 
his friends to unite with him, that they might re- 
joice together, and express their gratitude at the 
same time, for his deliverance. 

It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord, 
and to sing praises unto thy name, Omost High; 
to show forth thy loving-kindness in the morning, 
and thy faithfulness every night. 

Blessed be the Lord, because He hath heard 
the voice of my supplications. The Lord is my 
strength and my shield; my heart trusted in Him, 
and I am helped: therefore my heart greatly 
rejoiceth, and with my song will I praise Him, 

I love the Lord, because He hath heard my 
voice, and my supplications. Because He hath 
inclined his ear unto me, therefore will I call up- 
on Him, as long as Hive. The sorrows of death 
compassed me, and the pain^ of hell gat hold upon 
me; I found trouble and sorrow. Then called I 
upon the name of the Lord: O Lord, I beseech 
thee, deliver my soul. Gracious is the Lord, 
and righteous; yea, our God is merciful. The 
Lord preserveth the simple : I was brought loiv 
and he helped me. 



HISTORY OF JONAH. 105 

What shall I render unto the Lord for all his 
henejits towards me'l I will take the cup of salva- 
tion and call upon the name of the Lord. 

Iivill offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiv- 
ings and icill call upon the name of the Lord. I 
ivill pay my vows unto the Lord, now in the pres- 
ence of all his people. In the courts of the Lord^s 
house J in the midst of thee, Jerusalem. Praise 
ye the Lord. 

Probably, with some such songs of praise, did 
Jonah enter the temple, on revisiting his native 
land, while about to offer up his sacrifice of 
thanksgivings for the deliverance which had been 
afforded hiai, and to perform the vows that he 
had made. 

Sacrifices, I have told you, my dear children, 
are all now done away. We must show our 
gratitude to God in some other manner, than by 
offering up an animal on the altar of the Lord. 
How do you show your parents and friends, that 
you remember their kindness to you, and that 
you are thankful to them for it? You let them see 
it, in your cheerful obedience to their commands, 
and in your willingness to do anything for their 
comfort and happiness. And if you have to give 
up anything of your own, or put yourselves to in- 
convenience and trouble, in order to make them 
happy, you are very willing and ready to do it. 
9 



106 HISTORY OF JONAH. 

This is the way in which children who truly fove 
their parents and friends, show their gratitude 
to them. 

And if you truly love God, my dear children, 
and are grateful to Him for all his goodness and 
mercy to you, you will show your gratitude to 
Him in the same way. You will cheerfully obey 
his commands. You will be willing and ready 
to do anything that he requires of you. You will 
endeavor to make so kind and good a Being 
known to those who are yet ignorant ofHim, that 
they may love and obey Him also. You will do 
all in your power, to have others understand who 
Jesus Christ is, and why He came into the world. 
You will pray and labor, that your friends, and 
acquaintances, and countrymen, and all mankind, 
may be brought to the knowledge of this Saviour, 
and to trust in Him. You will cheerfully give up 
anything of your own, or put yourselves to in- 
convenience and trouble, to do all this. And 
you will do it, too, feeling that it is nothing more- 
than what you ought to do. You will feel that 
by doing it, you do not place God under any ob- 
ligations to do you good, as you sometimes feef,. 
that others should be kind to you, because you; 
have been kind to them. On the contrary, you 
will feel, that you have so often failed in doing 
your duty ; and have so often quite neglected ta 



HISTORY OF JONAH. 107 

do it; and have so often, and so greatly, sinned 
against God, tljat you justly deserve his displea- 
sure, instead of his kindness. You will feel, that 
it is only on account of his great mercy towards 
you, through Jesus Christ, that you can hope for 
the forgiveness of your sins ; for any favor from 
God; or that He will accept your attempts to 
serve Him, and grant you any hlessings in this 
world, and still more admit you to the enjoy- 
ments of heaven. 

These are the sacrifices which you can offer 
to God, to show your gratitude to Him :-— not on 
the altar, in his holy temple, as Jonah did ; — but 
in your hearts and lives ; in loving and obeying 
God ; and in feeling towards Him, and towards 
his Son Jesus Christ, as such sinners as you and 
I are, ought to feel. 



108 HISTORY OF JONAH. 



CHAPTER XI. 

The fish casts Jonah out upon the land. God 
does many things, tlie manner of doing which, 
we are not able to understand. Jonah again 
sent to Nineveh. He goes, and thus shows 
that his late repentance was sincere. 

At length, after Jonah had been brought into 
great distress, and very nigh to death itself, and 
deeply humbled before God, and penitent on 
account of his sins, his deliverance came. ' And 
the Lord spake unto the fish, and it vomited out 
Jonah upon the dry land.' 

He was set free from his dismal prison. He 
stood once more on his feet. He walked 
about. He breathed the pure air, and enjoyed 
the pleasant light of heaven. He looked around, 
and everything seemed new, and bright, and 
fair. 

For a little while the fish swam about on the 
top of the waves, and then plunged again into the 
deep, dark waters, to go down to the bottom of 
the sea. As Jonah saw it disappearing from his 
sight, he shuddered ; — for he could hardly feel 
that he was yet quite safe. It almost seemed to 



HISTORY OF JOiNAH. 



109 



him, for a moment, that he was once more going 
with the fish, down into the waters, and he 
started back, as if to escape. 




The waves closed over the fish ; and Jonah 
found, that he was indeed free from all dan- 
ger. 

Perhaps you \vish to know, my dear children, 
what it \\ as that God spake to the fish ; and 
how it was, that the fish understood what it was 
to do, when it cast out Jonah upon the dry land. 
The Bible does not tell us : and I cannot explain 
it to you. 

God does many things, the manner of doing 
which the wisest man cannot understand at all. 
Grown up people do many things, the manner of 
9* 



ilO HISTORY OP JONAH. 

doing which little children cannot understand, 
even if any one should try to explain it to 
them. They have not lived long enough, or 
learned enough, to be able to understand such 
difficult things. They must wait till they grow 
older ; and know more, and have stronger minds ; 
before such things can be explained to them. 

But there is a vast deal more difference 
between the mind of God, and our minds, than 
there is between the minds of men and women, 
and the minds of children. This difference is 
so great that we cannot even conceive how great 
it is. It is infinite. 

It is not at all strange, then, that we see 
many things around us which God does ; or 
read, in the Bible, of many things which He has 
done ; the reasons of doing which, or the^man- 
ner of doing which, we cannot understand 
at all. 

God has not given us minds that are yet 
capable of understanding them. We are all, in 
this respect, like little infants. Perhaps, in the 
future world, our minds may have so much 
strength, and we know so much more than we 
do now, that we shall understand the things 
which, at present, seem difficult and strange 
to us. 

If a child should receive a letter from his 



HISTORY OF JONAH. Ill 

father, in which it should be said, that some- 
thing had happened to his little brother who was 
with his father, of a very strange kind, and 
difficult to be explained to the child ; — if for 
example, he should be told, that his little brother 
had been taken sick very suddenly, and seemed 
to be dying, and was restored, in a very short 
time, to health and strength, by a small black 
pill that a physician gave him ; — he would 
believe it all, because he knew his father always 
told him the truth, although he could not pos- 
sibly conceive how it was done. He would 
have no doubt that the pill cured his brother, 
though it would still appear to him very strange 
and difficult to be understood, how such a 
small thing could have so much power. 

The father might say to him, ^ you are not old 
enough to understand how this pill cured your 
brother. Or, he might say ; ^ I have not time, 
or do not think it best, to explain it to you now ; 
I will do it when I come home.' 

In either case, the child would be perfectly 
satisfied, if he really respected his father, and 
trusted in his always speaking the truth. 

God, who is our Heavenly Father, has written 
a letter to us. It is the Bible. He tells us some 
things in it, the reasons for doing which, or the 
manner of doing them, we are not able to under- 



112 HtSTORY OF /ONAH. 

Stand ; or else, God does not think it best to ex- 
plain them to us. They may, indeed, appear to 
us very strange, and wonderful, and difficult, bul 
this should not keep us, a moment from believ- 
ing that they have really happened, or that they 
will yet happen, if God says so. We know, that 
God is a God of truth. He cannot tell us what 
is not true. He keeps us in the dark, with re- 
gard to some things, to try us ; — to see, if we do 
indeed love Him, and whether we are willing to 
trust in Him, at all times, and with regard to all 
that he says and does. 

In some way, then, which we cannot, at 
present, understand, God spake unto the fish ; 
and the fish obeyed Him, and cast out Jonah 
upon the dry land. 

Very soon after this, (the Bible does not tell 
us exactly how soon,) * the word of the Lord came 
unto Jonah, the second time, saying, Arise, go 
into Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it 
the preaching that I bid thee.' 

God intended, once more, to try Jonah, and 
see if he was willing to obey his command. God 
did not change this command. It was just as it 
was, at first, without anything altered in it to 
make the duty less difficult or dangerous. Nei- 
ther did God give Jonah any peculiar promises 
of protection. He did not say to him, ' Go, and 



HISTORY OF JONAH. 113 

I will guard you against all troubles and danger, 
SO that nobody shall do you any harm.' He left 
Jonah to think and act for himself, and to show, 
by his conduct, whether he could place an entire 
confidence in God. Possibly he might have to 
meet very great difficulties. He might be treat- 
ed very severely by the Ninevites. He might be 
cast into prison, and confined in a dark arud dis- 
mal dungeon. He might be tortured, so as to 
endure the most horrible pain. He might be put 
to death, in the most cruel and excruciating 
manner. 

He did not know but all this might happen to 
him. But the time was again come, for him to 
decide, whether he could give up everything, 
even life itself, rather than disobey God, and lose 
his favor and friendship. Now, too, it would ap- 
pear, whether all his cries for deliverance, while 
inside of the fish, were accompanied with any 
sincere sorrow for his sins ; and especially for 
his so shamefully and wickedly endeavoring to 
run away from the performance of the same duty 
that he is now, again, called upon to perform. 
He then made a solemn promise to w^orship God 
in his holy temple, and to show his gratitude, for 
the deliverance which he so earnestly desired, by 
offering up the sacrifices of thanksgiving, and 
paying his vows. 



114 HISTORY OP JONAH. 

Was his late repentance such as it ought to 
be, and such as all true repentance ever is ? Will 
it show itselfin a cordial forsaking of the sin re- 
pented of, and in a ready and willing obedience 
to all that God requires? How can he fulfil the 
promise that he made, and go to the temple of 
the Lord, on his return to his own country ; and 
worship God there in spirit and in truth ; and 
hope to have his offerings accepted, and his pray- 
ers answered ; and to obtain the blessings which 
he needs, — if now, so immediately after his won- 
derful deliverance, he should again suffer his. 
fears to overcome him, and endeavor again to 
avoid the performance of the duty wliich is laid 
upon him by an express command of God ? 

It is not improbable, my dear children, that 
you n)ay be placed, at some future time, in a sit- 
uation as dangerous, as that in which Jonali was^ 
while inside of the fish. Perhaps T/mi have hcen^ 
already ; and can now look back, and think, how 
you felt and acted. Did you feel and act, then, 
as you now are ready to say, Jonah ought to have 
done? Did the goodness of God, shown towards 
you, in a deliverance from some trouble, or dan- 
ger, or sickness, or from death itself, — lead you 
to true repentance for your past sins, to the cor- 
dial forsaking of them, and to a ready and wil- 
ling obedience to all that God requires of you t 



HISTORY OF JONAH. 115 

You prayed, perhaps, (I hope you did,) that God 
Would give you safety from the danger, or res- 
toration from the sickness. You made very sol- 
emn promises of future gratitude and obedience. 
Your prayers were heard and answered. Have 
your resolutions been kept? Have you offered 
■up the sacrifices of thanksgiving in the way which 
I have explained to you, by loving God and your 
feliow-rnen, and endeavoring to do his will, by 
doing good to all around you ? 

Think of the>e things, my dear children, and, 
if you have not done as you ought, in times that 
are past, pray to God, to enable you to do bet- 
ter, in future. Pray, that you may be enabled to 
imitate the example of Jonah, after he was de- 
livered from the great danger in which he was. 

For Jonah, then, did as he ought ^ and showed, 
by his conduct, that his late repentance was in- 
deed sincere. * So Jonah arose, and went unto 
Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord.' 

He had no more hesitation. His obedience 
was cheerful and prompt. He did just as God di- 
rected him to do. How far he had to travel, be- 
fore he reached Nineveh, we do not know. Per- 
haps it was a long journey. But he hastened as 
fast as he could, and, at length found himself there. 

^ Now Nineveh was an exceeding great city, 
of three days journey.' You recollect I told you 



116 HIgTORY OF JONAH, 

something of its size and magnificence ; — that it 
was fifty or sixty miles, (which might be called a 
journey of three days, for a man on foot) round 
the city ; that it was surrounded with wails, one 
hundred feet high ; and that it probably contain- 
ed five hundred thousand people. 

There stood Jonah, the prophet of the Lord, at 
the gate of this great city. It was a very rich and 
hopeful city. Its King had a large army, and great 
wealth, and lived in a costly palace, in much splen- 
dor. There were many other persons who also 
were very rich, and had magnificent houses, and 
ate the choicest food, and drank abundantly of 
wine, and were clothed in the richest dress, and 
had all that their hearts could wish. These, and 
the thousand poorer people, were all alike v/icked,., 
rery wicked indeed ; — murderers ; liars ; robbers; 
idolaters. They had long delighted in this wick- 
edness. It had become habitual to them. They 
encouraged each other in it. The people follow- 
ed the example of their King. Children imitat- 
ed their parents. No one thought of reproving 
the rest, or of expressing any fear, lest their ter- 
rible wickedness should meet with some dread- 
ful punishment. 

Jonah had to encounter all these wicked peo- 
ple. What would the King and his powerful 
soldiers, and his great men, and all the men, wo- 



HISTORY OF JONAH. 117 

men, and youth, say, when they heard a stranger 
preaching against them ; reproving them open- 
ly for their sins ; telling them that their idols 
were lying vanities ; teaching them about the on- 
ly true and living God ; and denouncing against 
them the displeasure of this Almighty Being, and 
his terrible indignation for their wickedness. 
How would they feel, and what would they do, 
when they should hear this unknown individual, 
calling himself a prophet of the Lord, crying 
aloud, up and down their streets, and threatening 
them with the complete destruction of their whole 
city. 

There stood Jonah, at the gate, and we may 
well suppose, that the danger which he anticipa- 
ted rose up before him, in all its terror and vast- 
ness ; and that, in the trembling anxiety of the 
moment, lie offered up an earnest prayer to God 
for support, and strength^ and fidelity, in the dis- 
charge of his duty. 



le 



118 HISTORY OF JONAH, 



CHAPTER XII. 

Jonah threatens the destruction of Nineveh in forty 
days. The Ninevites have some hope of being 
spared J if they repent. Explanation of what 
is meant^ when the Bible speaks of Gods 
repenting. We should go to the Bible to get 
our knowledge of God, and be satisfied with 
what it teaches us. 

Jonah entered the city, in the discharge of 
his difficult, and, as he thought, dangerous duty. 
We read in the Bible, that he * entered into it, a 
day's journey; and he cried, and said, yet forty 
days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown.' 

He lost no time in doing what God had com- 
manded him to do. He did not wait, a little 
while, to see in what way he might begin to 
preach to the people, with the most safety to 
himself. He boldly began his work, and walked 
about Nineveh, in its different roads and streets, 
the distance of twenty miles, or one day's jour- 
ney; crying aloud, and telling the wicked 
inhaoitants, that, in forty days, their city should 
be all destroyed. 

He, doubtless, told them that he was sent by 
the true God, to deliver this message, and who 



HISTORY OF JONAH. 119 

the true God was. It is most probable, too, that 
he explained to them the reason, why God had 
thus threatened them with so dreadful a calami- 
ty, and that it was on account of their great 
wickedness. He showed them the various ways 
in which they had been so wicked, notwithstand- 
ing they knew how to conduct better. For 
there are no people, however ignorant, but what 
know, that it is very wrong to lie, to murder, 
and to rob. 

It is not unlikely, also, that he pointed out to 
them the folly and the sin of idolatry, and told 
them how holy, and just, and good, — how wise 
and powerful the true God is, — the God whom 
he and his people worshipped, — the God who 
made all things, and whom they were bound to 
love and obey. 

This God was almighty, and could in an 
instant, by a terrible earthquake, or by fire sent 
down from heaven, utterly destroy them, and 
their splendid city, and all that it contained. 
But He would not immediately bring on them 
this destruction. He threatened it, however, at 
the end of forty days ; and, in the mean while, 
they must do as they thought they ought to do, 
placed in so alarming and trying a situation. 

They were led, no doubt, to hope that, by a 
deep and speedy repentance, they might be 
spared. It is true, Jonah had not told them so J 



129 HISTORY OF JONAH. 

but they had some good reason to think, that 
God might have mercy upon them. For by 
putting off the destruction of their city forty 
days, it seemed, as if He was willing to wait and 
see, whether they would not humble themselves 
before Him ; confess their great wickedness ; 
resolve to forsake it, and implore his forgive- 
ness. 

God does, thus, often spare sinners, if they 
will be truly sorry for their sins, and begin to 
love and obey Him, although he has threatened 
the most dreadful judgments against them. He 
himself tells us, in the eighteenth chapter of 
Jeremiah, the seventh and eighth verses ; At what 
instant T shall speak concerning a nation, and 
concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, and to pull 
down^ and to destroy it ; — if that nation, against 
whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil, I 
will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto 
them. 

This shows, how full God is of compassion 
towards the guilty, if they will but become 
|)enitent, and turn from their wickedness. He 
will repent of the evil, — of the dreadful punish- 
ment that their sins deserve, — and which he has 
denounced against them. This does not mean, 
that God will repent, in the same manner that a 
sinner repents, when he feels sorry for his sins, 
and resolves to forsake them. God is perfectly 



HISTORY OP JONAH. 121 

holy, — free from all sin, from the smallest degree 
of it. He cannot sin. We cannot think of his 
sinning. If He could sin, He would cease to 
be the true God whom the Bible describes to us. 
He would be like the false gods and idols which 
the heathen worship ; who, they suppose have 
committed all kinds of wickedness. He would 
not be worthy of our confidence. How could 
we love and obey him ? 

The Bible speaks of God^s repenting. What 
does this mean ? I will endeavor to explain it 
to you. 

When a sinner repents, he not only feels sorry 
for his sins, because he has been in danger of 
suffering the punishment which is due to them, 
but still more, because they have been commit- 
ted against a holy, wise, and just Being who has 
been very good to him, and whom he ought to 
love and obey. He regards sin differently from 
what he did before. He sees that sin is a very 
great evil. It is opposed to God. It causes a 
great deal of misery. It will make all who do 
not repent of it miserable forever. He begins 
to hate all kinds of sin. Formerly he loved and 
committed sin. Now he resolves to sin no 
more ; — he resolves to love God and to obey his 
commands ; — and he beseeches God, to enable 
him to do this. His thoughts and feelings have 
10* 



l22 HISTORY OF JONAH. 

Undergone a great change; and his conduct 
undergoes a great change also. 

Many things which he loved greatly to do, he 
now does no more. Many things which h0 
could not bear to do, he now does willingly and 
cheerfully, and with all his heart, because he 
loves to do them. 

How do we know that this great change has 
taken place in his thoughts and feelings; in his 
purposes and desires ? We cannot look into his 
mind and heart and see what is going on 
there. 

We think, that this great change has taken 
J)lace, because we see him conducting so differ^ 
ently ; and we conclude, that this different con- 
duct proceeds from purposes and desires very 
different from those which he had before. We 
say, he has repented of his sins. 

God shows himself to us in what He has 
hiade, and in what He does. We cannot see 
God. We cannot see his purposes and desires^ 
as they are in His mind. We can only con- 
clude what these purposes and desires are, from 
what God does, or from what He tells us He has 
done, or will yet do. 

He does a great many things, and very differ-^ 
ent things, at different times. When we speak^ 
of the things that He does, we are obliged to 
fepeak of them, in the same words which we use^ 



feiSTORif OF- JONAM* 139 

Wheii we speak of the various things which we 
md other persons do. We have no other wordiS 
that we can use. 

Besides this^ (which I wish you very particu* 
ularly to notice,) we are obliged to think of what 
God does, as we think of what men do. For we 
are acquainted with no other way of doing things 
than the way in which men do them. 

When we say God made the sun, we use the 
same word which we use, when we say a man 
made a table. We think of a man's making a 
table, by his resolving to make one ; by his con^ 
sidering how he will make it ; by his using the 
Strength which he has to make it ; and by his 
taking the wood out of which to make it, and 
employing the instruments with vjhich to make 
it. 

Now, when we sayj God made the sun ; w6 
think of his resolving to make it ; of his consid^ 
tring how to make it ; and of his using his pow- 
tr to make it. There we stop. We do not 
attempt to think, out of what God made the sun^ 
or in what way He made it. For of this we can 
know nothing. And even when we think of 
his resolving and considering, and Using his 
power, and speak of Him as doing this, — we do 
iiot mean, that He resolves, and considers, and 
Uses His power, exactly as we do ours. We 
^nly raean^ that He does it in some such ioay I 



I$i4 HISTORY OF JONAH. 

and that his power causes things to be made, 
or to happen, — as certain things are made, or 
take place, after we have resolved, and consider- 
ed, and used our power, that they may be made 
or take place. 

When we read in the Bible, then, that God 
repents of anything, we must not think of his 
doing this, as we think of a man's doing it, 
when we say a man repents of his sins. 

A man repents, and there is a great change 
in his thoughts and feelings, his purposes and 
desires. This change shows itself in what he 
does, — in his doing very differently from what 
he did before. His conduct leads us to con- 
clude, that a great change has taken place in 
his mind and heart. We say, that he has 
repented. 

God changes his conduct. He treats a person, 
or a whole nation, very differently from what He 
did before ; or from what He threatened to do, 
if they continued in their wickedness. He does 
them good, instead of doing them evil. We say 
that God has repented. 

A kind father has, sometimes, to threaten his 
child with very severe punishment, if he contin- 
ues to do a certain thing. The child ceases to 
do it, and shows that he is sorry for having done 
it, and that he means to do so no more. The 
father does not inflict the punishment : he treats 



HISTORY OF JONAH. 125 

the child with affection and kindness. While 
the child was disobedient, the father treated him 
in a way to show his great displeasure. Now, 
there is a great change in the father^ s treatment 
of the child. 

We speak of this change. It is so great, that 
we wish to speak of it in strong language, and 
we say, the father repented of the punishment with 
which he threatened the child. He almost seem- 
ed to feel sorry, that he had everj threatened it 
at all. 

God changes his conduct towards a person, or 
nation. He treats them very differently from 
what He had threatened to do, while they were 
going on in sin. We wish to speak of this great 
change in the conduct of God, in strong language; 
and we say, God repented of the evil. 

God repented of the evil ; and there was a 
great change in his conduct, — as there is in the 
conduct of the sinner, when he repents. But we 
must be careful to remember, that God did not 
feel sorry for having felt and done wrong, as the 
sinner feels, when he repents. 

God repented of the evil; and there was a 
great change in his conduct, — as there is in the 
conduct of a kind father, when he repents of the 
punishment which he threatened against the dis- 
obedient, but now penitent and obedient child* 
But we must be careful to remember, that God 



126 HISTORY OP JONAH. 

did not feel sorry for having denounced the evil 
against the sinful person, or nation in the same 
way that the father did. The father might feel, 
that perhaps he had been a little too severe in his 
i I threatenings. The threatenings of God are al- 

ways just and right. 

We must, also, be careful to remember, that 
when we read in the Bible, God repented of the 
evil; — and when this leads us to think there was 
a very great change in his conduct ; — we must 
not suppose that there was just such a change 
in the mind of God, in his purposes and desires, 
as takes place in us, when we change greatly our 
conduct. 

Of what takes place in God's mind, when He 
repents of any evil that He has threatened, we 
cannot distinctly think. We can form no clear 
ideas about it. It may be something resembling 
the change that takes place in our purposes and de- 
sires, when we repent. It may be very much 
unlike it. Let us be very careful, my dear chil- 
dren, how we speak of the great and holy God ; 
and how we think of Him, too. 

What can we, who are like the worms of the 
dust, know of that Being who has lived from all 
eternity, and will live forever; who knows all 
things that have ever happened, or will ever hap- 
pen ; who made, and takes care of all beings 
and things ; who governs all beings and things ; 



HISTORY OP JONAH. 127 

who has infinite wisdom and power, and can do 
whatever He pleases, and whenever He pleases 
to do it ? 

What can we know of God, except what He 
has taught us about Himself, in the Bible ? Men 
try to find out things about God, in other ways, — 
by the strength of their own minds, by their own 
thoughts and feelings ; by making God such a 
being as man is. But they fall into great mis- 
takes and errors. 

Let us not do so, my dear children. Let us 
go to the Bible to learn about God. Let us pray 
to God to enable us to understand it. Let us 
compare one part of the Bible with another. Let 
us try to find out the meaning of the language 
which the Bible uses, when speaking of God. 
When we have found out this meaning then let 
us stop. "We cannot find out more, if we try. God 
has told us all that it was necessary, or best, for 
us to know. For this let us be thankful. With 
this let us be satisfied. Let us believe, love, and 
obey the plain, simple truths which God has 
taught us in his word, and not try to he wise above 
what is written. 



128 HISTORY OF JONAH. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

If the Ninevites repented at the preaching of Jo* 
nah, how great will he the condemnation of 
those who repent not at the preaching of Je^ 
sus Christ, Wliat this condemnation is. God 
is goody in punishing the impenitent. 

The preaching of Jonah had an immediate ef- 
fect upon the people of Nineveh. It is very re- 
raarkable, that it did. Wicked people are not 
often willing to listen to those who tell them of 
their wickedness, and of the punishment which 
it justly deserves. They more generally turn 
away from such reproof, and endeavor to forget 
it, and to think that their wickedness is not very 
great. They love to continue in it, and therefore 
find excuses for it. Or, if they begin to fear that 
it may draw down upon them the displeasure of 
God, and expose them to his judgments; they 
think that these judgments will not yet come upon 
them, and that they may put off repentance for 
some time longer. 

But the people of Nineveh felt very differently. 
They believed that all that Jonah said was true. 
They knew, that their wickedness had been very 
great indeed. Their memory spread it all be- 
fore them. Their conscience accused them, and 



HISTORY OF JONAH. 129^ 

filled their breasts with the deepest remorse. 
They saw, that they could not excuse themselves, 
or make their guilt appear to be a small matter. 
They felt that it was so great, that it truly deserv- 
ed not only the punishment which Jonah had 
threatened, but a great deal more. 

They had probably heard of the Hebrews, to 
which nation they understood Jonah belonged. 
They had probably heard of much that the God 
of the Hebrews had done for them ; — of the mir- 
acles that He had wrought in their behalf; of the 
victories that he had enabled them to gain over 
their enemies; of his driving out the heathen 
from Canaan ; of his giving the Hebrews that 
delightful and fertile country ; and of his contin- 
uing to protect and bless them. 

It is very probable, also, that Jonah told them 
of his own wonderful deliverance, by the power 
of that God whom he worshipped, from the dread- 
ful danger which threatened him, when cast over- 
board by the mariners, and afterwards, while in- 
side of the fish. 

The Ninevites could not but compare the God 
of the Hebrews, and of Jonah, with their own 
gods. They could not but see the immense dif- 
ference between them ; how the one was almighty, 
and the others utterly weak and powerless. They 
acknowledged, that the God of the Hebrews, was 
the only true and living God. They believed 
11 



130 HISTORY OF JONAH. 

his threatenings. They feared before Him, and 
trembled at the prospect of his terrible indiorna- 
tion against their sins. 

You have been taught a great deal about the 
true God, my dear children. The smallest of 
you know much more of Him than the wisest of 
the Ninevites did. You have not been left to 
worship idols, as they did ; and as many of the 
poor, ignorant heathen do, at the present day. 
You know, too, what God has threatened against 
you, if you continue in sin, — if you do not repent 
of it, and forsake it, and trust in the Lord Jesus 
Christ, and love and obey God. He has not 
threatened, indeed, to destroy the place in which 
you live, as He did, to destroy the city of the 
Ninevites. But you know the still more dread- 
ful punishment which He threatens, in the future 
world, against all who continue disobedient and 
impenitent ! 

Are you still disobedient to God, and impeni- 
tent; — going on in sin, and not feeling at all sor- 
ry for it ? Think of the people of Nineveh. They 
repented at the preaching of Jonah, but a great- 
er person than Jonah has been sent to preach to 
you, and to warn you to repent of all your sins. 
That person is the Lord Jesus Christ, the son of 
God. He has truly preached to you ; for He has 
directed and taught his apostles to write down 
his sayings in the Bible, so that you might read 






HISTORY OF JONAH. 131 

and understand them. And you can do this, just 
as well as if you had heard them from his own 
lips. 

A father, if he was at a distance, could write 
a letter to his son, and reprove him if he had 
done wrong ; and advise him to do better ; and 
tell him, that if he did not feel sorry for what he 
had done, and ask forgiveness, and love and obey 
bis father in future, he must expect, and should 
certainly receive, a very severe punishment. 
The father could write all this, and when the 
son read the letter, he could understand and 
believe it ; he could think and feel, just exactly 
as if Ms father was present and speaking to 
him. 

In the same way Jesus Christ speaks to you 
in the Bible. He is calling upon you to repent 
of all your sins, and to believe in Him, and be 
forgiven ; that you may avoid that terrible pun- 
ishment, in the future world which God denoun- 
ces against those who continue in sin and 
impenitence. 

Hear the very words of Jesus Christ. He 
that helieveth on the Son, (that is, he that trusts 
iri Christ as his only Saviour, and feels the need 
of trusting in Him, because he is a miserable, 
guilty sinner ;) — He that helieveth on the Son^ 
hath everlasting life; (he shall live forever in 
heaven, and be eternally holy and happy 



132 HISTORY OF JONAH, 

there;) — and lie that helieveth nut the Son, shall 
not see life; (shall never enter into heaven;) 
hut the wrath of God ahideth on him. 

Always to have the wrath of God abiding on 
one! This is dreadful indeed. How unhappy 
a disobedient child feels, when he sees that his 
father is displeased with him and is about to 
punish him severely. And when he sees that 
this displeasure continues and that the punish- 
ment does not cease, and that it is even to be- 
come more severe, he feels more unhappy, and 
is wretched indeed. 

But what is the displeasure of a father, com- 
pared with the displeasure of God ! The child's 
sins against a father, are very small compared 
with his sins against God. Indeed, all his sins 
are sins against God. How great and dreadful 
will be the punishment which God will inflict 
upon those who disobey Him, and continue 
impenitent, compared with the punishment which 
a father inflicts upon his child. The Bible tells 
us it will be so. Jesus Christ himself tells us, 
as you have just seen, — that the sinner who con- 
tinues impenitent, must forever feel the wrath of 
God; it abideth on him, it will ever abide on 
him. 

Think of these things, my dear children. 
Think of the people of Nineveh. They repent- 
ed at the preaching of Jonah. A greater person 



HISTORY OF JONAH. 133 

than Jonah has preached to you, and is still 
preaching to you. Suppose He should tell you, 
that, in forty days, the place in which you live, 
yourselves and all the inhabitants, should be 
utterly destroyed by a tremendous earthquake ; — 
how would you feel; what would you do? 
Would you not repent, and beseech God, for the 
sake of Christ, to forgive you, and save you 
from destruction ? Would you not hope, as the 
people of Nineveh did,^ that, in this way, you 
might obtain mercy ? 

A more terrible punishment awaits you, if you 
continue in sin and impenitence. God does not 
threaten, that it shall come upon you, at the end 
of forty days. But suppose it does not. Sup- 
pose you live much longer than forty days. 
Suppose you live forty years, or even twice as 
long, eighty years. These will soon be gone. 
They are like days ; yes, they are like hours, 
like moments, when compared with the long, 
long, never-ending years of eternity. The eighty 
years of a short life, will soon be gone. Then 
death comes. The soul leaves the body. It 
goes to the judgment. Is it still disobedient and 
impenitent ; — then the wrath of God ahideth on 
it, forever. 

It is strong language, to speak of the anger, 
or of the wrath of God. It does not mean, that 
the wrath of God is like the wrath of a very 



134 HISTORY OP JONAH* 

angry man, who looks furiously^ and utters loui 
and fierce words, and seems, like a raging lion, 
ready to tear in pieces the person with whora 
he is angry. 

God does not feel so. His displeasure 
against sin is great indeed ; but there is no- 
thing in God that is fierce and furious. He is 
holy, and just, and good in all that He does* 
Yes, He is good, when He is displeased against 
sin, and when He inflicts the most dreadful 
punishment upon the sinner who continues 
impenitent. 

That father is good, who inflicts punishment 
upon his disobedient child. And if this child 
goes on in disobedience, and utterly disregards 
the advice, the reproofs, and the punishments of 
the parent, and sets his authority at defiance, 
and refuses to respect and obey him ;— the 
father is right in banishing him from his house, 
and leaving him to meet with the wretchedness 
and ruin of his own choosing. The father, too, 
is good in doing so ; — good and kind to all the 
rest of the children, and to the family. For how 
miserable the family would be, — how miserable 
all families would be, — if the father, who is the 
head of the family, is not respected and obeyed ; 
if he exercises no authority over a disobedient, 
ungrateful, and rebellious child ; if he lets him 
done, to go on in his disobedience and rebellion^ 



flISTOIlY OF JONAtt, 13S> 

htidj by his wicked example, probably, lead the 
other children to become disobedient and rebel- 
lious also. He would not be a good and kind 
father to do so. 

In the same way, God is good and kind, as 
Well as holy and just, in punishing severely the 
sinner \vho holds out against his authority; — * 
who will not respect and obey Him ; who con* 
tinues ungrateful, rebellious, and impenitent. 

If God did not punish such sinners, but per- 
iilitted them to go on in their wickedness ; if the 
Bible should tell us, that the wicked would never 
be punished at all, but that they would go to 
heaven^ after death, and be happy there forev- 
er ; — what a miserable and wretched world this 
Would soon be. Bad persons would commit all 
]ilinds of wickedness ; and if they could do it, 
without being found out, they would have no- 
thing to fear in the future world. 

Besides^ if God, who is so holy, just and good, 
did not think it right and best to punish the 
wi^ked^— would it be 7nghtfor men to do iti 
Would it be right for parents to punish their 
dii§obedient children 1 Would it be right for a 
teai<iher of a school to punish^ in any way, the 
pu^C^ils who would not submit to his rules? 
WaXild it be right to have any prisons, and to 
tionfini5 the persons in them who steal, and rob^ 
and do injury to others I 



136 HISI-'ORY OF JONAH. 

Then what a miserable world we should have ; 
what unhappiness in families ; what disorder in 
schools; what confusion, violence, and wretch- 
edness everywhere ! 

No; my dear children, God is good and kind, 
in punishing the sinner who continues disobedi- 
ent and impenitent, and in punishing him 
severely. When it is said, that the wrath of 
God abideth on him, it means, that the displea- 
sure of God against him is so great, that the 
punishment inflicted on him, and which will 
show this displeasure, will be dreadful indeed 1 
Dreadful indeed! Somewhat like the effects cf 
wrath, or very great anger, in a man, who inflicts 
some terrible pain, or suffering, upon the person 
that has made him angry. 

Repent of all your sins, my dear children. 
Trust in the Lord Jesus Christ to save you. 
Pray to God, to lead you to love and obey Him. 
If you do not ; if you continue impenitent ; 
then, at the day of judgment, the Ninevites will 
rise up and condem.n you. Their conduct will 
show, how just God will be, in condemning you. 
For, they repented at the preaching of Jonah, 
and a greater than Jonah has preached to you, 
and warned vou to flee from the wrath ^o come. 



HISTORY OF JONAK, 137 



CHAPTER XIV. 

The Icing hears of JonaJi^s threalenings. He 
clothes himself in sackcloth. He and the no- 
J>les decree that there shall he a general fast. 

* So the people of Nineveh believed God, and 
proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the 
greatest of theni even to the least of them. For 
word came unto the king of Nineveh, and ha 
arose from his throne, and he laid his robe from 
him, and covered him with sackcloth, aad sat in 
ashes. And he caused it to be proclaimed and 
published throughout Nineveh, (by the decree of 
the king and his nobles,) saying, Let neither 
man, nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything ; 
let them not feed, nor drink water. But let man 
and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry 
mightily unto God ; yea, let them turn every one 
from his evil way, and from the violence that is 
in their hands. Who can tell if God will turn 
and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, 
that we perish not ? ' 

It seems, that some who heard Jonah, went 
and told the king what a terrible calamity God 
had threatened against the city. The king list- 
ened to it, with deep and fearful attention. Like 



138 HISTORY OF JONAH. 

the people whom he governed, he knew that the 
punishment would be just. He trembled before 
the true and living God,— the God whose al- 
mighty power, as Jonah declared, was to be ex- 
ercised in the destruction of himself and his peo- 
ple. He arose from his throne, where he was 
sitting, in great splendor, to receive the persons 
who came unto him. He had little expected to 
hear from them such an unwelcome message. 
He laid his robe from him, — the rich dress which 
he wore, and which showed that he was a king, 
and had great power and authority, — and he 
covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. 

By leaving his throne, a seat on which only 
-kings sit, and by putting off his robe, the emblem 
of authority, he meant to humble himself in the 
sight of God. He meant to acknowledge, by 
this conduct, that he was unworthy of sitting on 
that throne, and of wearing that robe ; that he 
had not acted as a good king, in seeing that his 
people did what was right, and kept from vio- 
lence, and robbery, and murder ; that he had 
himself done what a good king ought never to 
do, — encouraged his people in their wickedness, 
by his own bad example ; and that he really did 
not deserve to be a king any longer. 

To show, too, his very great sorrow for his 
past wickedness, and deep humility, in the sight 
of God^ and in the presence of his people, he put 



HISTORY OF JONAH. 139 

on a very coarse kind of dress, called sackcloth, 
and sat down among the ashes. 

You have seen those who have lost their friends 
by death, put on a black dress, called mourning. 
This, I you know, is done as a mark of their sor- 
row. It is an emblem of grief. 

Among the Jews, and among other nations in 
Asia, at the time when Jonah lived, it was cus- 
tomary, also, to have a mark, or emblem, of sor- 
row. They put on sackcloth, when they were 
deeply afflicted, and wished to show that their 
grief was great. This sackcloth was usually 
made of goat's hair, and was very coarse and 
rough. It was of a dark or black color. It was 
made into a garment, like a sack, with merely 
holes for the arms, and was thrown over the per- 
son, and reached down below the knees. la 
this dress, the afflicted person often sat down in 
the midst of ashes, and had his head covered all 
over with them. 

You will find, in the first book of K ings, the 
twenty-first chapter and twenty-seventh verse^ 
how Ahab, a very wicked king of Israel, rent his 
clothes, and put sackcloth upon his llesh, and 
fasted, and lay in sackcloth, and went softly, or 
walked in a slow and humble manner. He did 
this to show his sorrow at the threatenings which 
Elijah, the prophet, uttered against him, on ac- 
count of his great wickedness. 



140 HISTORY OF JONAH. 

At the beginning, also, of the first chapter in 
Esther, you will see, how Mordecai rent his 
clothes, and put on sackcloth, with ashes, and 
went out into the midst of the city, and cried 
with a loud and a bitter cry. He did this, to 
show his great grief at the order of Ahasuerus, 
the king of the country where he and many oth- 
er Jews lived, to kill them all, men, women, and 
children, on a certain day. 

We read, also in the Bible, how Job, in his 
great distress, sat down among the ashes ; and 
he tells us, that he sewed sackcloth upon his 
body. 

This custom may appear strange to us, but it 
was not so among the people who practised it. 
We have customs that would appear strange to 
other people who do not practise them, and 
who should be told of them. And, indeed, almost 
every nation has customs peculiar to itself, and 
quite different from those which other nations have. 

The king of Nineveh thought that something 
more must be done, than for himself alone to be 
humbled before God, and to show his great sor- 
row for his wickedness. All the people had 
sinned ; the destruction of the whole city was 
threatened ; and all should repent of their wick- 
edness, and humble themselves before God, to 
avoid, if possible, his awful judgments. 

The king called together his nobles, — the 



HISTORY OF JONAH. 141 

great and powerful men, who aided him in gov- 
erning the people, — some of whom commanded 
his armies, and others attended to the different 
kinds of business which he had to do. He often 
used to call them together, and especially when 
there was any great difficulty or danger ; — to 
hear their advice, and to have them assist him in 
deciding what was best to be done. 

Now the difficulty and danger were very great 
indeed, and the king quickly sent for his nobles, 
who came together, probably in the palace where 
he lived, to hear what he had to say to them. 

Most, if not all of them, knew the reason of 
their assembling. Some of them had already 
heard Jonah crying out, in the streets of the city, 
and threatening its destruction ; and others had 
been told of it by those who had heard him. For 
you may easily imagine that the alarm would be 
spread very rapidly. Many, as soon as they saw 
and heard Jonah, would run to tell others the 
dreadful news ; and in a short time, everybody 
would know something about it. 

The nobles came together, at the summons of 
the king, in great fear and sorrow. And how 
much this fear and sorrow must have been in- 
creased, when they met him ! He vvasnot sitting 
on his throne, as he usually did, when he called 
them together, with his crown on his head, and 
clad in his rich and splendid robes ; and looking 
12 



142 HISTORY OF JONAH. 

round proudly and boldly upon them, as the 
great and powerful king of a great and powerful 
people ; and expecting that they would approach 
him with every mark of respect, (probably by 
bowing themselves, the whole length of their 
bodies, before him,) and then standing, in silent 
attention, to hear what he had to say to them. 

No ; they were astonished to see their king 
covered with sackcloth, and sitting in ashes, sor- 
rowful and trembling. It was a strange sight ; 
his fear increased theirs, and great sadness and 
consternation filled the whole assembly. 

The Bible does not tell us what the king said 
to the nobles, on this occasion. He, doubtless, 
told them how greatly he was alarmed, and that 
he thought Jonah was a prophet, sent to them by 
the true God. He probably, too, spoke of his 
own great wickedness and that of his people ; 
and told them how much this wickedness de- 
served the judgment that was threatened against 
them. He called upon them to unite with him 
in humbling themselves before God, and in com- 
manding all the inhabitants of Nineveh to do it, 
in a public and solemn manner ; hoping that, in 
this way, they might obtain mercy of God, and 
be spared. 

It seems that the nobles thought and felt as 
the king did, and agreed, that it was very proper 
and important, that what he advised should be 



HISTORY OF JONAH. 143 

done. So the king, with his nobles, made a de- 
cree; that is, they determined, that a certain 
thing should be done by all the people ; that the 
people should be told of this, as the positive com- 
mand of the king and nobles ; that the proper 
persons having authority under the king, should 
see that this command was strictly obeyed ; and 
that all persons who did not obey it should be 
punished. 

The decree was, that, for a certain time, (prob- 
ably for one day,) neither man nor beast, herd 
nor flock, should taste anything ; neither feed, 
nor drink water. It was also ordered, that man 
and beast should be covered w^ith sackcloth. I 
do not suppose, that this means, that every one of 
the beasts was to be covered with sackcloth, but 
that all those must be which belonged to the rich 
and great persons, and which, usually had some 
kind of cloth, or gay ornaments, upon them, to 
show the wealth and distinction of their owners. 

In this way, by covering not only themselves, 
with sackcloth, but even the beasts, it was in- 
tended, that the Ninevites should show the 
strongest marks of their humbling themselves 
before God. The beasts, it is true, did not 
know why they were covered with sackcloth, in- 
stead of the beautiful trappings which they usu- 
ally wore ; hut their owners did, and as much 
was shown by this expression of sorrow, as by 



144 HISTORY OF JOxMAII. 

the sackcloth which they themselves wore. The 
gay ornaments on the animals which they rode 
about the city, or which drew them in their char- 
iots, were, as well as their own rich and splen- 
did dress, the marks of their wealth and distinc- 
tion. They showed their pride quite as much 
by the one as by the other ; and now it was in- 
tended, that they should show their humility by 
laying aside both, and covering themselves and 
their animals with the same emblem of sorrow. 

The animals, too, were to have no food, nor 
water, during the day. The inhabitants of the 
city were to spend no time in taking care of 
them, but to devote it all to humbling themselves 
before God, confessing their sins to Him, hearti- 
ly repenting of them, and praying for pardon and 
mercy. By this universal fasting of men, wo- 
men, and children, and of all their animals, it 
was intended to show how universal their guilt 
was, and that their very beasts, as it were, had 
been partakers of this guilt ; because they had 
belonged to those wicked people, and had been 
used by them, while engaged in their wicked-^ 
ness. 

I do not think it is necessary, that, when we 
fast, to show our sorrow for sin, we should make 
the animals which belong to us, fast also. God 
does not require this. It is proper to feed and 
water them, and, also, to give nourishment to 



HISTORY OF JONAH. 145 

children, and to sick and feeble persons. But 
the Ninevites thought differently ; and, although 
they did not think, perhaps, exactly right about 
it, it showed the sincerity and the depth of their 
sorrow. I suppose, too, that fasting for one day, 
would not do any lasting injury to their animals. 
It often happens, that w^ild animals in the woods 
go without eating or drinking anything, for a 
longer time than one day. 

It was also decreed by the king and nobles, 
that the people should cry mightily unto God ; 
and that they should turn, every one, from his 
evil w^ay, and from the violence that was in their 
hands ; — that they should do wickedly no more, 
and that the violent things, the quarrelling, the 
fighting, the stealing, the robbing, the murder- 
ing, in which their hands had been employed, 
should all cease. 

This decree of the king and nobles of Nine- 
veh, shows how they trembled at the threatenings 
of Jonah ; how well they knew, that their wick- 
edness had been very great; how deeply they 
felt, that they justly deserved the awful judg- 
ments of God, and that they had no hope of es- 
cape but in his .mercy alone. It shows, also, 
how strongly they desired, that the sorrow of 
themselves and the people might show itself to 
come from the heart, and to be something more 
than the mere fear of punishment. For they 
12* 



146 HISTORY OF JONAH, 

knew, that while persons continue in sin, they 
cannot feel sorry for it ; and that every one who 
feels true sorrow for his sins, will immediately 
begin to forsake them, and to do what God re- 
quires of him. 



CHAPTER XV. 

TThe people are directed to pray^ as well as to 
fast. They willingly obey the decree, A 
great change in their conduct. God spares 
Nineveh. The duty of fasting^ and of hav* 
ing seasons of public fasting^ humiliation and 
'prayer. 

It was a part of the decree of the king and 
nobles, that prayer to God should be united with 
the fasting. The people were required to cry 
mightily unto God; to cry from their hearts, 
feeling deeply their guilt and their danger ; to 
cry aloud with their voice, as persons are ready 
to do, when they are sensible of some great dan- 
ger that threatens them, and that they must ob- 
tain help speedily, or be destroyed* 

The fasting was to prepare them thus to pray 
the more earnestly and feelingly. Great grief 
^ften destroys the appetite* Persons who feel a 



HISTORY OF JONAH. 147 

great deal of sorrow, will not care about eating 
and drinking. On the other hand, to go, for 
some time without food, aids us in feeling truly 
sorry for our sins. It keeps the mind awake and 
clear, so that we can think the better how guilty 
we have been in the sight of God ; and confess 
more fully all our wickedness ; and pray the bet- 
ter for pardon, and that we may be kept from 
sinning in future. While a person is trying to 
do this, if he sits down and eats and drinks as 
much as he wants, he will find, in almost all 
cases, that his attention and feelings become 
very different from what they would have been, 
if he had continued to go without food. 

Fasting is something more than a mere out- 
ward expression or mark of sorrow. It is one of 
the best means of preparing the heart and the 
mind, to be humbled before God, deeply to re- 
pent of sin, and earnestly to cry unto God for 
forgiveness, and for a disposition to love and obey 
Him. Very young persons, however, or those 
who are sick and feeble ; or those whose health 
requires it j may not be able to go without food. 
In such cases, they ought to take nourishment 
Their repentance may be equally as sincere, al- 
though not accompanied with the outward ex- 
pression of it. 

The king and the nobles told the people, in 
the dmm% that, if they would all thus humble 



148 HISTORY O^ JONAH. 

themselves before God, and show that their fast* 
ing and prayers were sincere, by immediately 
forsaking their wickedness, — then there might 
be some hope of their deliverance from the de* 
struction with which they were threatened. 
* Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and 
turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish 
not?' 

You remember, my dear children, that I have 
explained to you what is meant, when we speak 
of God's repenting, or of his being angry ; and it 
may be well for you to read it over again, if you 
do not recollect it all distinctly. 

The king and nobles hoped, that, if they truly 
repented of their sins, God would treat them all 
very differently from what He had threatened, 
and that his terrible displeasure would not come 
upon them. 

The king caused the decree to be proclaimed 
and published through Nineveh. He sent many 
of his officers, probably on horseback, through 
all the roads and streets of the city, to tell the 
people what himself and the nobles thought it 
was best to do, and what they commanded to be 
done by all the inhabitants. 

The people heard the decree, and all felt that 
it was just and right. They prepared to obey 
it. It took them some little while to get every- 
thing ready for the day of fasting, humiliation 



HISTORY OF JONAH. 149 

and prayer; but soon the preparations were 
made, and when the time came which the king 
had appointed, they were all of them, and the 
animals, too, which they used in riding, covered 
with sackcloth. 

How sorrowful the whole city must have 
appeared. It would be a sad sight to you, my 
dear children, to see all the men, women, and 
children, and all the horses, too, in the place 
where you live, clothed in mourning. How they 
must have all felt in the great city of Nineveh, 
to look round and see its numerous inhabitants, 
and its thousands of horses and camels, all cov- 
ered with the emblems of grief. 

It was a mournful day for them. They took 
no food nor drink. They prayed alone, and in 
their families ; and I think it probable, that they 
also went into their temples, and there cried 
mightily unto God, to have mercy on them. 
Many of them, we have reason to believe, felt 
truly sorry for their sins, and confessed them to 
God, and besought him to forgive them, and to 
enable them to forsake their sins, and do what 
was right and pleasing in his sight. 

There was a great change, after this, in the 
conduct of the Ninevites. A great many among 
them ceased from outward wickedness, and 
some continued to worship and obey the true 
God. How many of them truly loved God, and 



150 HISTORY OF JONAH. 

desired to be holy and freed from all sin, and 
loved their neighbors as they did themselves, we 
cannot tell. But probably not a few did ; and 
throughout the whole city, there were scarcely 
any violence, — any quarrelling, or fighting, any 
stealing, robbing or murder, to be seen. And 
God saw their works, that they turned from their 
evil way ; and God repented of the evil that He 
had said that He would do unto them ; and He 
did it not.' 

Nineveh was not destroyed, at that time. God 
spared it ; and in this, and a great many other 
ways, He shows us, how full He is of compassion, 
— how ready He is to have mercy upon those 
who will forsake their sins, and do what He com- 
mands. 

We see, too, how important it is, not only that 
individuals, or single persons, should humble 
themselves before God, on account of their sins, 
but that the inhabitants of a city, or of a whole 
country, should do it. We have, all of us, my 
dear children, reason to repent of our own 
peculiar sins, which we have committed alone, by 
ourselves. It is proper, too, that we should have 
seasons of fasting and prayer, for ourselves indi- 
vidually ; — that we may look back upon our past 
lives ; and examine our hearts and conduct, and 
see what we have thought, felt, said, or done, 
contrary to the commands of God. At such a 



HISTORY OF JONAH. 151 

time, we should confess our sins, and implore 
forgiveness ; and beseech God to give us a 
strong faith in Jesus Christ, that we may trust in 
this Saviour, and love Him, and obey his precepts, 
and imitate his example. Many good people, 
in the course of their lives, have such seasons of 
private fasting and prayer; and they find them 
seasons in which they obtain more humility; 
more sorrow for sin ; more desire to be like God 
and Christ ; a strong belief that God is their 
friend, and that his Son is indeed their Saviour ; 
more peace of mind ; and a better preparation 
for doing their duty in this world, and for the 
joys of heaven, in the next. 

But, besides our individual sins, there are 
other sins which we unite together in committing. 
Sometimes, all the people who live in a city, or 
country, commit sins which are public and com- 
mon. They do not keep the Sabbath as they 
ought. Intemperance, profane swearing, and 
other kinds of wickedness abound. Good people 
do not set such an example to others, as they ought 
to do, nor endeavor to show them the folly and the 
danger of their wickedness and lead them to 
Jove and obey God. And so, all the people in 
the city, or in the whole country, become very 
sinful ; and their wickedness, like that of Nine- 
veh, comes up before God ; and his judgments 
are ready to overtake them. 



153 HISTORY OF JONAH. 

They need, as the Ninevites did, to humble 
themselves before God. It is their duty to have 
a season of public fasting humiliation, and 
prayer, in vi^hich all should unite. The sins of 
which they are to repent are common ones, that 
all have either committed, or suffered to go on 
without doing what they could to prevent them. 
The danger to which they are exposed,— is a 
common one. They may all suffer together, 
under the just and terrible displeasure of God. 

When there are such seasons of publie fasting, 
humiliation, and prayer; remember, my dear 
children, that, in Nineveh, they all united in 
humbling themselves before God, from the 
greatest of them, even to the least of them. All 
ages, the old and the young — the grand-parents, 
the parents, and the children, united in it. — If 
you are old enough, to understand what is meant 
by sinning against God, then you are old enough 
to know that you ought to repent of your sins. 
You are old enough to uni*e with others, in 
humbling yourselves before God, in seasons of 
public fasting, humiliation, and prayer. When 
there are such seasons, remember that tjcur sins 
have added to the whole number of sins of which 
the people have been guilty. You come in for 
your share of the guilt, and are exposed, with 
others, to the just judgments of God. You 
should, therefore, unite with them, in fasting 



HISTORY OF JONAH. 153 

and prayer, and in repentance for sin, and in 
beseeching God to pardon all the people, and to 
have mercy on them. 

The Jews had a solemn fast, once every year. 
You can read about it in the twenty-third chap- 
ter of Leviticus, from the twenty sixth verse to 
the thirty-third. They then confessed their sins, 
and humbled themselves before God. 

We read, too, in the Bible, of other occasions 
when there were public fasts. In the twentieth 
chapter of the second Book of Chronicles, you 
will see, that Jehoshaphat, King of Judah, pro- 
claimed a fast throughout all the country over 
which he reigned. He published a decree, 
as the king and nobles of Nineveh did, and 
commanded all his people to unite wuth him, in 
fasting, humiliation, and prayer. The reason of 
it was, that the people who lived in another 
country, and who were the enemies of the Jews, 
came with great armies, to fight and destroy 
them. Jehoshaphat feared. He knew, as the 
king of Nineveh did, that he and his people had 
been wicked, and that it would be just in God, 
to leave them to be destroyed by their enemies. 

But he hoped, that they might obtain the 
pardon of their sins, and the protection of God, 
and called upon his people to come up to Jeru- 
salem, the city where he lived, and there keep 
the fast with him, and the inhabitants of that 
13 



154 HISTORY OP JONAH. 

place. They did so, and we read, that ' all 
Judah,' (all the people of that country,) stood 
before the Lord, with their little ones^ their 
wives, and their children.* They stood together, 
in the house of the Lord, and Jehoshaphat stood 
there before them, and prayed unto God for 
deliverance.' 

God heard their prayer, and delivered them 
from their enemies; just as He saved the Nine- 
vites after their season of fasting, humiliation, 
and prayer. 

In the eighth chapter of Ezra, at the twenty- 
first verse, you will see, that he proclaimed a 
fast. See, if you cannot find out the reason of 
his doing this, and what was the consequenrce of 
his fasting, and the people who were with him. 

After the Jews came back from their captivity 
to their own country, they had a very solemn 
season of fasting, humiliation and prayer, an 
account of which you can read in the ninth 
chapter of Nehemiah. 

David, also, fasted when his child was sick, of 
which you can read in the second Book of 
Samuel, the twelfth chapter, and the fifteenth 
verse. 

In the ninth chapter of Daniel, you will see 
how he fasted. He says, ' I set my face unto 
the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplica- 
tion, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes/ 



HISTORY OF JONAH. 155 

He did this, while his countrymen the Jews, 
were in captivity, and he besought God to have 
mercy on them. 

In the sixth chapter of Matthew, at the 
sixteenth verse, Christ gives us some directions 
about fasting, which sliows, that he intended, 
that his disciples should sometimes fast. And 
we read, that they did so, in the thirteenth 
chapter of Acts, at the third verse, and also in 
the fourteenth chapter, at the twenty-third 
verse. 

In the fifth chapter of Luke, at the thirty-fifth 
verse, Christ says, that the days would come 
when He should be taken from his disciples, 
and that then they should fast. And it was true, 
that after he ascended to heaven, his followers 
had many and great trials, and, in the midst of 
their afflictions, fasted, and humbled themselves 
before God. Paul tells us that he did so, in the 
eleventh chapter of his second Epistle to the 
Corinthians, at the twenty-seventh verse. He 
says, he was ^ in weariness and painfulness, in 
watching often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings 
often ^ in cold and nakedness.' 

I have be( n particular, as you see, my dear 
children, in telling you about the subject of 
fasting, humiliation, and prayer. I have pointed 
out to you some of the places in the Bible where 
you can read about it, which I hope you will not 



156 HISTORY OF JONAH. 

fail to do. And I have done all this, that you 
may always remember the examples of the Jews 
of old, and of the disciples of Christ, and how 
important it is, both for individuals, and for a 
whole people, at proper times, to humble them- 
selves before God, on account of their sins. 

If the ignorant Ninevites, who were heathen, 
saw and felt the need of a season of fasting, 
humiliation, and prayer, how much more ought 
we to see and feel the need of it, — we who have 
been taught so much better than they what our 
duty is ; and who, both as individuals, and as a 
people, have committed so many sins, that 
deserve the displeasure and judgments of God. 



CHAPTER XVI. 

Jonah is very angry ^ that the Ninevites are to he 
spared. Reasons of his feeling so. God^s ex- 
postulation with Jonah. We should never feel 
ashamed while doing our duty. Jonah goes out 
of the city ; builds a booth, and sits under it, 
to wait, and see the fate of Nineveh. God pre- 
pares a gourd, to overshadow Jonah. 

When Jonah heard the decree of the king and 
nobles, and saw the preparation of the Ninevites 



HISTORY OF JONAH. 157 

to obey it, he began to think, that they had, in- 
deed, resolved to humble themselves before God. 
He soon witnessed their fasting, humiliation, and 
prayer, and the very great change which took 
place in their conduct. He saw that the sorrow 
of many of them was sincere ; and that most 
probably their prayers would be heard and an- 
swered, and their city saved from destruction. 
This was what he had, in some degree, expect- 
ed. He supposed it possible, that they might be 
alarmed at the threatenings which he uttered 
against them, and repent, and turn from their 
evil ways. He thought if they did, that they 
would obtain pardon and mercy of God. For he 
knew, that God was full of compassion, and ready 
to forgive, and that, in many instances. He had 
spared the penitent, although very severe judg- 
ments had been threatened against them, while 
continuing in their sins. 

It happened, as Jonah expected it might. God 
determined not to destroy Nineveh, at that time ; 
and it is not unlikely, that He told Jonah, how it 
repented Him of the evil which He had said He 
would do unto them, and that He would do it 
not. 

We should suppose, that Jonah would be great- 
ly rejoiced to hear this. He had just been, him- 
self, delivered from the most awful danger, and 
from the terrible judgments of God, to which his 
13* 



158 HISTORY OF JONAH. 

sins had exposed him. He had cried to God for 
mercy, in the greatest distress. He had repent- 
ed of his wickedness, and made solemn vows to 
God of future obedience. His prayers were 
heard. He was rescued from destruction. 

We should suppose, that he would sympathize 
with the poor, ignorant, sinful Ninevites ; and 
consider, that if their sins were great. Ids had 
been great also ; and, that if God had spared him 
who knew so well what his duty was. He would 
also, in the exercise of the same compassion, 
spare a people, who had not enjoyed anything 
like the same means of instruction with himself. 
We should suppose, that Jonah would feel most 
deeply for their situation, and be full of joy at the 
sure prospect of their deliverance. 

As soon as be felt certain, that they would be 
spared, we should suppose, that he would show 
his joy, and tell them of it, and encourage them 
to keep on in their course of obedience to the 
commands of God. 

Happy Jonah ; to witness this surprising effect 
of his preaching ; — to see the inhabitants of a 
great city, so lately full of all kinds of wicked- 
ness, humbling themselves before God, and turn- 
ing from the evil of their ways, and saved, by the 
mercy of God, from destruction. How happy 
other preachers would be, to witness similar ef- 
fects of their labors ; — to see sinners, in great 



HISTORY OF JONAH. 159 

numbers, repenting of their sins, and forsaking 
them, and doing what God requires. 

But, alas ! Jonah, for some strange reason, 
felt very differently from all this. Instead of re- 
joicing at the prospect of the Ninevites being 
spared, it displeased him exceedingly , and he was 
very angry. ' And he prayed unto the Lord, 
and said, I pray thee, O Lord, was not this my 
saying when I was yet in my country ? There- 
fore I fled before unto Tarshish ; for I knew, 
that thou art a gracious God, and merciful, slow 
to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth 
thee of the evil. Therefore now, O Lord, take, 
I beseech thee, my life from me ; for it is better 
for me to die than to live.' 

We find out, now, one thing w^hich kept Jonah 
from going to Nineveh, when God first com- 
manded him to go there. He thought, at that 
time, that God might possibly spare the Nine- 
vites ; knowing how full of compassion He al- 
ways is towards those who are truly penitent, and 
w^ho forsake their wickedness. He thought, that 
if this should happen, he might be considered as 
a false prophet; — as having threatened what 
would never come to pass. His pride made him 
feel that this would be disgraceful to him, and 
expose him to the ridicule of the Ninevites ; and 
of his own people, when he should return home. 

Now he finds himself, as he supposes, in this 



160 HISTORY OF JONAH. 

very situation. He is almost willing that the 
poor Ninevites should all be destroyed, rather 
than he suffer anything in the opinion of others, 
as a true prophet of the Lord, He forgets, that 
God told him what to do, and that it is always 
safe to obey the commands of God ; yes, that it is 
the highest honor of man to obey them, and that 
there is no disgrace so great, as not obeying them. 
He forgets, that God will take care of his own 
honor, and that if God does not disgrace Him- 
self, by repenting of the evil which He threatens 
against the wicked, when they repent and for- 
sake their wickedness, — a man, such as he is^ 
need not consider it any disgrace to be the mes- 
senger of God, and to tell the wicked what the 
threatenings of God are. He forgets, too, what 
a sinner he himself has been ; and that, of all 
persons in the world, he is one of the last that 
should have anything like pride. What, indeed, 
has Jonah to be proud of .^ 

He forgets all this. He is exceedingly dis- 
pleased, and very angry. He seems ready to 
justify himself, in having before fled to Tarshish;' 
and, in a very murmuring and disrespectful man- 
ner, says, he then knew that what he feared, 
would probably take place. And since it has 
taken place, it is too much for him to bear. He 
would rather die, than be so much mortified and 
disgraced. He very foolishly and wickedly be- 



HISTORY OF JONAH. 161 

seeches God to take him away from this morti- 
fication and disgrace, by causing his death. 
* Therefore now, O Lord, take, I beseech thee, 
my life from me ; for it is better for me to die 
than to live.' 

It is very probable, also, that Jonah felt thus 
strongly, because he thought that the Ninevites 
might receive more favor from God, than even 
his own people, the Jeivs. He knew that the Jews 
had been guilty of so much sin, that they were 
exposed to the just displeasure of God. Wheth- 
er they would repent, as the Ninevites did, was 
quite doubtful. They might be cut off, as a na- 
tion ; while the people of Nineveh would be 
spared, and become great, powerful and happy. 
Here would be an additional mortification and 
disgrace, which, as a Jew, he would feel very 
deeply ; and he had rather die than endure it. 

The reproof which God gave to Jonah, was a 
very gentle one, considering the sinful feelings 
which he indulged, and the disrespectful and 
presumptuous language which he used. * Then 
said the Lord, Doest thou well to be angry 1 ' 

God intended by this question, to lead Jonah 
to think seriously on the folly and wickedness of 
his anger, and to see that there was no good rea- 
son for it. His own conscience, if permitted to 
speak ; would furnish the most severe reproof; 
and convince him that, instead of doing well he 



162 HISTORY OF JONAH. 

was doing very ill, to be angry. To he angry ^ be- 
cause God was good, and the penitent Ninevites 
to be saved from destruction ; what a selfish, hard- 
hearted man, it showed him to bd. To he angry ^ 
because it seemed to him, that some dishonor 
might happen to himself, or to the Jewish nation ; 
what a proud spirit he had, — what a want of con- 
fidence in the wisdom and power of God ; — as if 
God would not take care of his own honor, and 
do all things in the best manner. 

Doest thou well to he angry ? When you feel 
angry, my dear children, ask yourselves this same 
question. Stop a little, and think what it is that 
causes your anger. Why do you feel angry ? 
Against whom do you feel angry 1 'Can you 
give any good reason for being angry ? In al- 
most every case, you will find that, like Jonah, 
you have no good reason for indulging such a 
temper, and that you are acting, as he did, very 
foolishly and wickedly. You wonder, probably, 
that he could dare to feel and to speak, as he did. 
Others who are looking on, when you are angry, 
wonder, in the same way, at your feelings and 
conduct. Remember what the Bible says ; Cease 
from anger, and forsake wrath, fret not thyself 
inanrfvisr^ to do evil. Let all hitterness, and 
wrath, and anger, and clamor^ and evil speaking 
he put away from you, with all malice. 

Remember, too, my dear children, that there 



HISTORY OF JONAH. 163 

never can be the least shame or disgrace, in do- 
ing what God commands us to do ; even if things 
do not turn out as we could Avish. And if they 
should turn out, so as greatly to disappoint and 
perplex us ; — to cause us even much trouble and 
sorrow ; — still if we have been faithful in doing 
our duty, we ought not to complain. God over- 
rules all things. He will bring good out of evil. 
Although it may so happen, that, while we have 
gone forward and acted in obedience to his com- 
mands, our fellow-men may think there is some 
occasion for ridiculing or despising us ; — let us 
feel, that their treatment ought to give us no un- 
easiness, if we have but secured the approbation 
and favor of God. In a little while both they 
and we must appear before God, to be judged by 
Him, for all that we have done in this world. 
Then it will be seen, that it was the greatest 
honor, to be employed, in any way, in the service 
of God ; and that theirs is the shame and disgrace, 
who have dared to ridicule those who are thus 
employed. 

Had Jonah thought of these things, and felt, 
as he ought to do, a cheerful acquiescence in all 
that God did, — he would have remained, a little 
longer, contented and happy, in the city of Nin- 
eveh. By remaining there, he would have been 
of great service to the inhabitants. He could 
have taught them a great deal about the true God^ 



164 HISTORY OF JONAH. 

and their duty towards Him, and towards their 
fellow-men. He might have led not a few of 
them to become thoroughly changed in their con- 
duct ; desirous of forsaking all kinds of wicked- 
ness, and of rendering a cheerful obedience to 
the commands of God. 

But Jonah thought and felt very differently. 
The gentle reproof which he received from God, 
did not seem to produce its proper effect upon 
him. He still was disappointed. His pride was 
not subdued. He could not overcome his shame 
and mortification at finding, that the threatenings 
which he had denounced were not to be executed. 
He could not remain any longer in the city. 

* So Jonah went out of the city, and sat on the 
east side of the city, and there made him a booth, 
and sat under it in the shadow, till he might see 
what would become of the city. ' 

He was hardly willing, after all, to give up the 
idea, that a great judgment would come upon 
Nineveh. They might fall back again into their 
wickedness, and God still punish them with the 
entire destruction of their city. Or, if this did 
not happen, some other kind of evil might over- 
take them. At any rate, he thought he would 
wait and see, and know exactly, how God would 
treat those against whom he had been ordered to 
denounce so terrible a calamity. 

The booth or covering under which Jonah sat. 



HISTORY OF JONAH. 



1C5 



was, probably, a small kind of house, made of the 
branches and leaves of trees. In that warm 
climate, he thought this might, perhaps, shelter 
him. But to make it more comfortable, and, at 
the same time, to teach him a useful lesson, 
' God prepared a gourd, and made it come up 
over Jonah, that it might be a shadow over his 
head, to deliver him from his grief ^ 



^^M 


i^^^ 


^^»^^^^=^ 


1 


i 


^fer: ::.a 


^ ---^~— -^-^=^ss=z^^== 


H 


^^ "^^^ .- -=• 




p^"^ """"^ - ^ ^ "^^ " " 


Wm 


I^P 


r v-.-,._v_ -- 


1 


1 





The learned men who have endeavored to dis- 
cover, if possible, what kind of plant this gourd 
was, are still in doubt with regard to it. We 
must not think, that it was much like what we 
call by that name in this country. It was prob- 
ably more like a small tree, with a slender trunk, 
thick branches, and broad leaves. Such trees 
are found in that part of the world where Nine- 
14 



166 HISTORY OF JONAH. 

veh was situated, and grow up very rapidly, in a 
short time. But God prepared this particular 
gourd, on purpose to shelter Jonah, and to re- 
fresh him, that he might not sink under the effects 
of his grief Its sudden growth was a miracle, 
as you remember the preparation of the great fish 
was, to swallow up Jonah, when he was cast, by 
the mariners, into the sea. Jonah saw a great 
deal to convince him of the power, the wisdom, 
and the goodness of God ; and, at this very time, 
while he was murmuring and complaining, and 
giving way to sinful anger, he was still, as you 
see, treated by God with great compassion and 
kindness. The Lord is gracious, and full of 
compassion ; slow to anger, and of great mercy. 



CHAPTER XVII. 

Jonah exceedingly glad of the gourd. But God 
destroys it, hy a ivorm. Jonah suffers greatly 
from the heat. He ivishes to die. He shoidd 
he patient under afflictions. God expostulates 
with Jonah. His wicked reply. Good men li- 
able to sin. God reasons icith Jonah to show 
him his great selfishness and guilt. What is 
our spirit ? 

It seems, that ' Jonah was exceedingly glad of 
the gourd.' It was a great refreshment to him. 



HISTORY OF JONAH. 167 

He delighted in its shelter, and, for a moment, 
nearly forgot the cause of his disappointment 
and vexation. The truth is, he thought almost 
ivholly about himself] — about his character, and 
what his fellow-men would think and say of him ; 
— about his personal comfort, and how ho might 
be pleasantly seated under the booth, and over- 
shadowed by the thick-leaved gourd, until he 
should witness the fate of Nineveh. He thought, 
just then, not at all of the duty of submission to 
the will of God ; of confidence in his wisdom and 
goodness ; and in what way he might best serve 
God, and do good to his fellow-men. 

Unhappy, sinful Jonah ! sitting there solitary ; 
rejoicing exceedingly in the addition to his bodi- 
ly comfort from the springing up of a single plant ; 
and yet taking no delight in the surprising refor- 
mation that was going on in Nineveh, and in the 
mercy of God towards that great city. 

May we not expect, that he him elf will re- 
ceive some severe chastisement, to bring him 
back again to a proper state of penitence and hu- 
miliation before God ? God is, indeed, preparing 
to chastise him, but yet in a way that shows his 
great forbearance and long-suffering towards the 
obstinate and presumptuous prophet. 

' But God prepared a worm, when the morn- 
ing rose, the next day, and it smote the gourd 
that it withered. And it came to pass, when 



168 HISTORY OF JONAH. 

the sun did arise, that God prepared a vehement 
east wind : and the sun beat upon the head of 
Jonah, that he fainted, and wished in himself to 
die, and said, It is better for me to die than to 
live.' 

God can, at any time, take away the comforts 
which he has seen fit to give us. He can do 
this in ten thousand different ways, and by things 
which appear to us, the weakest and most 
insignificant. He can accomplish his purposes 
even by a worm, as He did in the case of 
Jonah. 

This little worm, which Jonah could have 
crushed with his foot, destroyed the life of the 
refreshing gourd, whose shelter he was enjoying 
so much, and it withered. Its branches hung 
down and its broad leaves drooped, as if to 
rebuke the prophet for his selfish and discon- 
tented feelings. Besides the loss of this shelter, 
at the rising of the sun, the next day, when the 
heat begins to increase in that very warm 
climate, God caused the east wind to blow 
strongly, and make the heat of the sun still more 
intolerabk). 

Travellers tell us of a wind that blows in 
some of the countries. of the eastern part of the 
world, which is very terrible. The people who 
live in Arabia call it the Simoom. It comes 
from across the burning sands of the desert, 



HISTORY OF JONAH. 169 

like a great hot stream ; and, as it approaches, 
the clouds, at a distance, are tinged with a red 
color, and all the sky looks gloomy a d alarm- 
ing. Coming still nearer, it seems like a sheet 
of smoke, colored with purple. The course 
which it -takes, is usually less than one hun- 
dred feet in width ; and it goes so rapidly that 
is not felt, in any one spot, more than eight or 
ten minutes. 

It always keeps about two feet above the sur- 
face of the ground. This enables those persons 
who see it coming, to save their lives by instant- 
ly throwing themselves flat upon the earth, with 
their faces downwards, and breathing as little as 
possible till it is past. Camels and other ani- 
mals, when they perceive it coming, thrust their 
heads down, and bury their nostrils in the sand. 
Men, however, are often destroyed by its blast. 
It comes with such amazing quickness, that it 
overtakes them still standing up, before they are 
aware of it, and they receive its poisonous 
vapor into their lungs. They fall down directly, 
and lie without motion or life. It is especially 
dangerous when it comes in the night. Thou- 
sands, it is said, have, in more than one in- 
stance, perished in a single night, from its deso- 
lating breath. 

A distinguished traveller, who visited Mosul, 
a city on the banks of the Tigris, and near to 
14* 



170 HISTORY OF JONAH. 

which it is supposed that Nineveh stood, speaks 
of this same east wind. He says, that it extends 
its ravages all the way from the end of the gulf 
of Cambaya, quite up to Mosul. 

The same writer tells us, that while he was in 
Mosul, the heat was so intense, that, in the 
middle of the day, there was no stirring out; 
and even at night, the walls of the houses were 
so heated by the sun which had shone during 
the day, as to produce a disagreeable heat to the 
body, at a foot, or even a yard's, distance from 
them. 

If the heat was anything like this, at the time 
when Jonah was sitting under his booth, and 
withered gourd ; and if the vehement east wind 
that blew over him, was anything like the 
simoom, which I have described to you ; it is 
no wonder that he fainted, and was in great 
distress. His distress, it seems, was so great, 
that ' he wished in himself 1,0 die, and said, It is 
better for me to die than to live.' 

It was very wrong for Jonah to feel so, and 
to say so. If God thinks it best to deprive us of 
any comfort, or to send upon us any affliction, 
we should be submissive to his will, and not 
murmur or complain. No matter how great 
our distress is, we should consider, that God has 
some wise and good reason for requiring us to 
endure it. It is proper, indeed, for us to endea- 



HISTORY OF JONAH. 171 

vor to remove it, by all lawful means. But if 
these fail, we should not repine. We should 
be patient, and let others learn, from our exam- 
ple, how to submit 1o the chastisements that 
our Heavenly Father sees fit to inflict upon us. 
We should remember, too, that these chastise- 
ments are less than our sins deserve, — a great 
deal less; — and that if we make a proper use 
of them, they will do us good. God intends 
them for our good, as much so as a kind father 
intends the punishment which he inflicts upon 
his disobedient child, for Ms good. It is intend- 
ed, to lead him to see and to feel the folly and 
guilt of disobedience ; and to bring him back to 
a state of love and respect to his parent, and of 
a willingness to do cheerfully all that the parent 
requires of him. 

Our afflictions ought, in the same way, to lead 
us to humble ourselves before God, in view of 
our many sinful wanderings from Him ; and to 
bring us back again to our Heavenly Father, 
with feelings of love, of confidence, and of heart- 
felt obedience to his will. 

Jonah's affliction, which he so richly ^deserved, 
ought to have had this effect uporj him. But it 
did not, at first, seem to do him any good. He 
felt more wretched and discontented than ever. 
He had no submission to God. He suffered so 
much, both in body and in mind, that instead of 



172 HISTORY OF JONAH. 

looking to God for support and deliverance, he 
longed for death to release him from his trou- 
bles. 

God saw his repining and unsubdued spirit, 
and said to him, ' Doest thou well to be angry for 
the gourd?' ^ And he said, I do well to be 
angry, even unto death.' 

This was a very insulting and wicked reply 
for Jonah to make to God. He must, indeed, 
have been in a very disturbed, and even furious, 
state of mind, to dare to do it. His rage at the 
loss of the crourd inflamed his feelings to such a 
degree, that ho gave way to the worst passions of 
his heart. He justified his own sinful anger, 
and declared that it was right for him to be so 
angry, as even to wish f )r death. He did this, 
too, in the presence of God, and as if to reprove 
God himself for taking away his shelter from the 
tormenting heat. 

We see from this, and, indeed, from the whole 
history of Jonah, how good men, — those who 
are truly the friends of God, and devoted to his 
service, — may be led away, at times, by their 
remaining sinful passions and desires, from the 
love and obedience of God, to say and do things, 
as bad as any that the worst persons say and do. 
The Bible gives us a faithful account of these 
sins of good men, to teach us, how strong the 
power of dn is in the human heart; and how 



HISTORY OF JONAH. 173 

much, even the best person needs to look and 
prayer to God, continually, for his wisdom and 
strength to be given to them, to enable them to 
overcome their sinful passions and desires. 
Remember, this, my dear children. What 
Jonah said and did must appear, I think, very 
strange and wicked to you. Fear, lest at some 
time you may imitate his example. Pray 
earnestly and daily to God, that He ivould keep 
you from sinning against Him, and, under all 
your afflictions, give you a submissive and 
patient spirit. 

Notwithstanding the very wrong feelings that 
Jonah continued to indulo;e, and the insultinof and 
wicked reply which he made, God still treated 
him with gfeat forbearance; and endeavored to 
reason with him, to show him his folly and his 
guilt. ' Then said the Lord, thou hadst pity on 
the gourd, for the which thou hast not labored, 
neither madest it grow; which came up in a 
night, and perished in a night: and should not 
I spare Nineveh, that great city, wherein are 
more than six-score thousand persons, that can- 
not discern between their right hand and their 
left hand ; and also much cattle V 

Jonah felt much troubled that the gourd was 
destroyed by the w^orm. He pitied it, — he felt 
sorry, that so beautiful and useful a plant should 
wither and die. He would have done anything 



174 HISTORY OF JONAH. 

in his power to preserve it. But what was the 
gourd, compared with the numerous inhabitants 
of the city of Nineveh? 

Jonah could feel deeply afflicted at the de- 
struction of a single plant, which he had not taken 
any care of. And shall not God have mercy up- 
on the very beings that he has formed and pre- 
served ? 

Jonah would have the gourd spared, which, in 
a single night, sprang up and grew to its full 
height and in another night perished ; — a short- 
lived plant, possessing neither thought nor feel- 
ing. And shall not God spare the people in the 
great city of Nineveh? Are they not of infi- 
nitely more value than the gourd ? They will all 
live forever. They have never-dying souls. Shall 
not God show his mercy towards them ; especial- 
ly as they have humbled themselves before Him, 
and given, (many of them, at least,) marks of 
sincere repentance. This long-suffering of his, 
may lead still more of them to consider the folly 
and the guilt of their past lives, and to repent of 
their wickedness, and love and obey God. 

Besides, in the city there are more than six- 
score thousand persons that cannot discern be- 
tween their right hand and their left hand. 
These are young children and infants, who are 
not old enough yet to understand the difference 
between right and wrong. For this is what the 



HISTORY OF JONAH. 175 

Jews meant, when they spake of a person not be- 
ing able to discern between his right hand and his 
left hand. Of such young children and infants, 
there were no fewer than one hundred and twen- 
ty thousand. 

By thus knowing the number of young chil- 
dren and infants, we can form an opinion of the 
whole population of Nineveh ; and, it is suppos- 
ed, that the number of inhabitants, of all ages, 
could not have been less than five hundred thou- 
sand. Perhaps it was somewhat more. 

Must all these little ones perish, and the inno- 
cent cattle, too ? They, as well as the young 
children and infants, have had no share in the 
dreadful wickedness that has been committed in 
the city. Shall not all these be spared ? 

Thus did God reason wuth Jonah, and endeav- 
or to show him how foolish and wicked he was. 
He could be very greatly displeased and angry, 
at the loss of the gourd ; and yet feel not at all for 
the harmless animals, for the tender and interest- 
ing little children, in Nineveh. He could even 
murmur at the preservation of the city, although 
there was such an appearance of sincere repent- 
ance among the inhabitants, and such an aston- 
ishing change in their outward conduct. 

Do you think, my dear children, that Jonah 
acted in a very foolish and wicked manner, and 
that he had very wrong and sinful feelings. 



176 HISTORY OF JONAH. 

Then, take care, that you do not imitate his ex- 
ample. 

Has it never happened, that you have thought, 
that the good of others would, in some way, make 
your enjoyment less ? Have you not, sometimes 
felt so anxious to secure your own happiness, that 
you have cared nothing about theirs ? Have you 
not even been willing, that they should suffer, 
rather than you lose a little of something which 
you strongly desired to have ; or rather than put 
yourselves to any inconvenience, on their ac- 
count. 

This is the same selfish spirit which Jonah 
had; and it shows, that, if you had been placed 
in his situation, you would, in all probability, 
have felt and acted just as he did. 

If you have such a spirit now, my dear chil- 
dren ; — if any of you have it, and feel no sorrow 
for indulging it ; and do not endeavor to over- 
come it; and do not pray to God, to deliver you 
from it ; it shows, very clearly, that you are not 
prepared to go to heaven. If you should die 
with such a spirit, you could not go to heaven. 
For there, all have a very different spirit. They 
liave the same spirit that was in Jesus Christ. 
You know what this spirit was. He so loved us, 
— he so loved all mankind, — that he left the hap- 
piness and the glory which He had with God, in 
hearen. He was made like one of us. He was 



HISTORY OF JONAH. 177 

a man of sorrow and acquainted with grief. He 
was poor, and had no home. He was despised 
and rejected by his own countrymen, the Jews. 
He was in. such an agony, when thinking of the 
death which He was to suffer, for you and for 
me, that he sweat drops of blood. He was beat- 
en, and reproached, an<l insulted, and made to 
wear a painful crown of thorns. He died on the 
cross, enduring the most dreadful sufferings, both 
in his body and in his mind. 

And all this He did, to save you, my dear 
children, (if you will trust in Him, and love Him, 
and obey Him,) from the terrible punishment, in 
the future world, which is due to your sins. 

Have you anything like this spirit of Christ? 
Have you begun to feel and to act a little, as He 
did? Have you some desire to do what you can, 
-to make others good and happy ? Do you love 
to see them good and happy ? Especially, are 
you willing to give up something that you love ; 
to put yourselves to some inconvenience ; to even 
endure some suffering ; — in order that, in this 
way, you may do good to those around you ? 

Ask yourselves these questions, my dear chil- 
dren ; think seriously of them ; and see what the 
answers will be. 
15 



173 HISTORY OF JONAH. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

Jonah probably humbled, and again penitent. 
Good men always mourn over their sins. The 
Bible written for our instruction. What use 
will the reader make of this history of Jonah ? 
Concluding exhortations. 

The Bible does not tell us, how Jonah felt, 
after God had reasoned with him, about his fool- 
ish and wicked anger. It is altogether probable, 
however, that he saw, once more, how great a 
sinner he was ; and that he again repented^ and 
implored the forgiveness of God. He doubtless-^ 
too, besought God to give him the Holy Spirit^ 
that he might have right thoughts and feelings^j, 
and be kept from sinning in future. 

It was thus that David prayed, in the fifty- 
first Psalm, after he had been guilty of great 
wickedness. Read this Psalm, my dear chil- 
dren, and you will see, how deeply humble good 
men feel, if they have forgotten God, at any 
time, and committed sin. They mourn over 
their sin. They repent of it. They feel how 
ungrateful they have been to their kind, Heaven- 
ly Father. They beseech Him to have mercy 
upon them, and, for Christ's sake, to pardon their 
iniquity. They feel how weak they are, and 



HISTORY OF JONAH. 179 

liable again to yield to temptation, and commit 
sin. They pray to God, humbly, earnestly, con- 
stantly, that He would give them the Holy 
Spirit, that they may be kept from sin, and led 
to love and obey God. 

It is thus, my dear children, that you should 
feel and pray, whenever you forget your duty to 
God, and yield to temptation, and conduct wick- 
edly. Have you done so, heretofore ? You 
have, doubtless, sinned against God. Perhaps 
you can recollect when you felt very much as Jo- 
nah did, after the gourd had withered. Did you 
afterwards think and feel how wrong it was to 
have such discontented and angry feelings? Did 
you repent of such wickedness, and humble your- 
selves before God, and implore his forgiveness ? 
Did you beseech Him to keep you from sinning 
in future ? 

It is only in this way that we can hope to over- 
come our sins. The power of sin is very great. 
You know, that often wicked thoughts and feel- 
ings arise in your mind, and you are inclined to 
say, or to do wicked things. You know how 
difficult it is to get rid of these wicked thoughts 
and feelings. The only way to get rid of them 
is, to feel humbled in the sight of God that you 
have them, and that you love to have them ; — to 
feel truly sorry that you have them ; — to feel how 
wrong it is to have them ; — to resolve and en- 



180 HISTORY OF JONAH. 

deavor to overcome them, and banish them from 
your mind; — and, above all, earnestly to beseech 
God, for the sake of Jesus Christ, to give you the 
Holy Spirit, that you may entirely get rid of 
them, and have right thoughts and feelings. 

It would be very pleasant to us, to knovi^ some- 
thing more about the history of Jonah, and where 
he went after leaving Nineveh. But God has 
not thought it best to tell us. He has good rea- 
sons for all that He does. He directed holy men 
of old to write the different parts of the Bible 
just as they are written ; and just as He thought 
they ought to be written, to do us the most good, 
if we will study them, and love and obey the truths 
which they teach us. 

From what God has told us about Jonah and 
the Ninevites, we know enough of their history, 
to teach us a great many useful and important 
things. Instead, then, of being too curious to 
know more, let us learn wisdom from what we 
do know. This is the true use of knowledge. 
For if you read the histories in the Bible, my 
dear children, only to get entertainment from 
them, they will do you no good. When you read 
them, you should remember that they are written 
on purpose to make you wiser and better. God 
directed them to be written for you ; — yes, for 
you particularly. He knew that you would read 
them ; — when you would read them , — and how 



HISTORY OF JONAH. 181 

you would read them ; — whether you would do it 
merely to gratify your curiosity, by finding some- 
thing new and entertaining, or to learn from 
them what your duty is, and how you must love 
and obey Him. He sees you when you read 
them, or while they are read to you. He looks 
into your minds, and into your hearts, and knows 
exactly how you think and feel ; and whether 
you wish to make a good use of what he is so 
kind to give you, for your instruction, in the 
Bible. 

You will have, at the day of judgment, to ren- 
der an account to God of the use which you 
make of this instruction. What use have you 
made, — what use do you hope still to make,— o/" 
the history of Jonah ? While hearing it, have 
you only had your curiosity gratified, by its 
strange and wonderful events? Have you listen- 
ed to it, in the same v/ay tiiat you often listen to 
stories which are told you for your amusement ? 
Or, have you felt, as we have gone along, and 
seen the great wickedness, both of Jonah and the 
Ninevites, and the dreadful destruction that was 
very near overtaking them, — how great an evil 
sin is, — and how much you have to dread the 
displeasure of God, if you continue sinning 
against Him, without repenting of it and forsak- 
ing it? Have you considered, too, from the ex- 
ample both of Jonah and the Ninevites, how 



182 HISTORY OF JONAH. 

great the mercy of God is towards the penitent; 
how willing He is to spare them ; — to pardon 
them ; — yes, to receive them to his favor and 
love, and to be their everlasting friend ; — if they 
will but turn unto Him from their wickedness, 
and be willing to submit to His authority, and 
do what He requires of them ? And have you 
felt how much i/ou need this mercy of God? 
How great is His goodness, in thus being ready 
to pardon you^ if you will truly turn unto Him 
from all your wickedness^ and repent, and trust 
in the Lord Jesus Christ to save you. Has this 
wonderful goodness of God led you to feel sorry 
for all your past ingratitude toward ^ Him, and 
brought you to a humble, penitent, and obedi- 
ent state of mind ? 

You alone can answer these questions, my 
dear children. Answer them now. Answer 
them truly to your own consciences. Remem- 
ber, that it was the immediate repentance of the 
Ninevites whic'i God regarded with favor, and 
that on that account alone, He was merciful to 
them. Had they said that they would repent 
at some future time, when it might be more 
agreeable or convenient for them to do it, God 
would not have had compassion on them. The 
judgments that Jonah threatened against them, 
would certainly have been inflicted. 

If you have never yet repented of your sins, 
and trusted in Christ to save you, no longer 






HISTORY OF JONAH. 183 

delay to do it. How unwise the Ninevites 
would have been to delay their repentance ! 
How unwise you will be to delay yours! A 
future time for repentance may never come. 
Each day that you put it off, will render you 
more unwilling to do it, the following day. 
Days will succeed to days ; and weeks to weeks ; 
and months to months; and years to years; 
and while you keep on sinning, — loving other 
things more and more, but not loving God at 
all, — you will find repentance becoming more 
and more difficult. Your hearts will become 
hardened in sin ; and God may abandon you, 
as He has done other impenitent sinners, to the 
guilt and to the ruin which you yourselves have 
chosen. 

But years may not succeed to years; nor 
months to months; nor weeks to weeks; nor 
days to days. You know not, how soon you 
may die. Many children younger than you are, 
have been laid in the cold and silent grave. 
There you may soon be laid. Then it will be 
too late to repent and trust in Christ. God 
makes no offers of mercy to you beyond the 
grave. 

You see the danger and the folly of delay, 
my dear children. Avoid this danger and folly. 
Seek the mercy of God, through Christ. Con- 
fess your sins to God. Beseech Him, for the 
sake of Christ, to pardon you, and to give you the 



184 HISTORY OP JONAH. 

Holy Spirit, that you may love Him with all your 
heart. Then you will be safe. God tcill he 
your everlasting friend. Christ will he your 
Saviour from the punishment and the power of 
sin. The Holy Spirit zvill he your teacher and 
comforter. While you live, you will enjoy the 
highest happiness that can be enjoyed in this 
world, the happiness that arises from loving and 
serving God, and doing good to others. 

You will not be afraid to die ; and when your 
body goes to mingle with the dust, your soul will 
take its flight to heaven : — there to be free, for- 
ever, from all pain, and sorrow, and sin; and to 
go on, without end, in becoming more and more 
like God, — like that Being whose knowledge, and 
holiness, and happiness, are infinite. — To be like 
such a Being ; to spend an eternity in enjoying 
His presence and love ; in worshipping and serv- 
ing Him ; in communion with his Son, the 
Saviour of your soul, and with an innumerable 
company of angels, and the spirits of the just 
made perfect; — of what higher hliss can you 
conceive, — what greater can you desire ? 

Go, quickly go, to Him who will impart 

His grace to every humble, contrite heart. 

Go in His name, whose wondrous cross doth prove, 

Stronger than death itself, His matchless love. 

Go penitential, on the suppliant knee ; 

Ask and receive, and blessed forever be. 

THE END. 



^ 



Deacidified using the Bookkeeper process. 
Neutralizing agent: Magnesium Oxide 
Treatment Date: May 2005 

PreservationTechnologies 

A WORLD LEADER IN PAPER PRESERVATION 

1 1 1 Thomson Park Drive 
Cranberry Township. PA 16066 
(724) 779-21 1 1 



